Robotic arm to inspect leaky Soyuz spacecraft, Russia says

A stream of particles, which NASA says appears to be liquid and possibly coolant, sprays out of the Soyuz spacecraft on the International Space Station NASA TV/Handout via REUTERS

A 17-metre-long Canadian-made robotic arm on the International Space Station will inspect a docked Soyuz spacecraft after a leak was noticed just before a spacewalk last week, Russia's state space corporation said on Sunday.

After the spacewalk was called off on Dec. 15, Roscosmos said there had been damage to the outer skin of an instrument assembly compartment of the Soyuz MS-22 capsule. It said there was a coolant leak.