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The International Space Station did not lose its cooling in the event best matched to this headline. On October 9, 2023, NASA reported flakes coming from a backup radiator on Russia’s Nauka module; Nauka’s primary radiator continued providing full cooling, and NASA said the crew was never in danger. NASA’s October 11 update said the leak had ceased, though residual coolant droplets remained visible.
What happened, and when?
On October 9, 2023, NASA controllers observed flakes coming from one of the two radiators on the Roscosmos Nauka Multipurpose Laboratory Module. Roscosmos identified the affected unit as Nauka’s backup radiator, mounted outside the module. The reporting describes a leak in that backup unit—not a failure of the station’s entire cooling system.
NASA said the U.S.-segment window shutters were closed as a precaution against potential contamination from the flakes. NASA’s Victoria Ugalde wrote in the October 9 update: “The crew aboard station was never in any danger.”
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Was the crew safe, and was Nauka still cooled?
Yes. NASA said Nauka’s primary radiator continued working normally and providing full cooling to the module. The backup radiator was the affected unit; the primary radiator remained operational.
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| Radiator | Role and location | Status in NASA’s October 2023 updates | Reported consequence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nauka primary radiator | Primary cooling for Nauka | Working normally and providing full cooling | No reported impact to crew or station operations |
| Nauka backup radiator | Backup radiator mounted outside Nauka | Leaking on October 9; NASA said on October 11 the leak had ceased, with residual droplets still visible | No reported impact to crew or station operations |
In its October 11, 2023 update, NASA stated: “The primary radiator on Nauka continues to work normally, providing full cooling to the module with no impacts to the crew or to space station operations.”
What was the radiator’s history?
The backup radiator had been delivered to the station on the Rassvet module during shuttle mission STS-132 in 2010. Roscosmos transferred it to Nauka during a spacewalk in April 2023.
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Is this a new cooling-system failure?
The available reporting that matches this description concerns the 2023 Nauka backup-radiator leak. NASA’s International Space Station news index snapshot retrieved October 4, 2026 showed October 2026 Crew-13 and station-operations items, but it does not establish whether a newer incident occurred. Without a dated report identifying another event, the 2023 leak should not be presented as breaking news in 2026.
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteNASA has also documented a separate 2013 anomaly involving External Thermal Control System Loop A. That historical event is not the same incident as the 2023 Nauka leak, and the available sources do not connect them.
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What caused the 2023 leak?
NASA said teams were continuing to investigate, but the cited updates do not provide a final cause. They establish that the backup radiator leaked and that the leak had ceased by October 11; they do not establish why it happened.
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