Cosmonaut who found blob growing outside International Space Station was told to leave area immediately after his discovery
What lies in space is a thought that can often be too unsettling to think about in great detail.
Luckily for us, we have professionals to find this out - And in October 2023, cosmonauts on board the ISS made a startling discovery whilst conducting a spacewalk to repair a leaking radiator.
The leak was confirmed by Russian space agency Roscosmos to have originated from the backup radiator mounted on the outside of the Nauka module launched in 2021.
While the main radiator remained operational, Roscosmos scheduled a spacewalk to address the issue.
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During the inspection, cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko observed several holes in the radiator panel.
'The holes have very even edges, like they've been drilled through,' Kononenko told Moscow Mission Control.
'There are lots of them. They are spread in a chaotic manner.'
To absorb any escape liquid, cosmonauts had a cloth towel with them.
It wasn't long before Kononenko noticed a strange globule believed to have been formed from residual ammonia coolant.
Although reportedly the leak was not immediately dangerous but did pose extra complications once the cosmonauts, Kononeko and his colleague Nikolai Chub, got closer to properly inspect.
After making this discovery, Kononeko was instructed to leave the area immediately after he saw the blob had made its way onto his safety tether - He had to perform a dangerous move while floating in outer space to fix this.
To avoid spreading the dangerous substance inside the station, Moscow Mission Control demanded his return to ISS but ordered him to bag up and leave the tether outside
The radiator - which has since been isolated from supply lines - is said to be fixed in a future space walk.
It is still unknown as to what the actual case of the radiator leak was, but the cause will continue to be investigated.
On another mission, Kononenko and Chub installed a synthetic radar communications system and released a nanosatellite to test solar sail technology.
The radar will be used to monitor Earth's environment.