The 2018 drill hole mystery on the Soyuz capsule

Space is a vacuum trying to suck your lungs out, so the last thing you want to find is a DIY project gone wrong. In 2018, astronauts found a tiny hole in their Soyuz capsule that wasn't caused by a meteor, but by a clumsy human with a drill.

Someone likely slipped during assembly and tried to "fix" the mistake with a bit of glue. That patch held up during tests, but in orbit, the sealant dried up and popped out like a loose tooth.

It’s the ultimate "hide the evidence" fail, proving rocket science isn't immune to a panicked worker with some epoxy.

Wait, did they just use more space-tape to keep the air inside?

Believe it or not, the first line of defense was a literal finger. Astronaut Alexander Gerst reportedly plugged the hole with his thumb to stop the whistling sound of their atmosphere escaping into the void. It’s the ultimate low-tech fix for a high-tech nightmare.

Once they stopped the immediate panic, they didn't reach for a futuristic laser welder. They used medical gauze soaked in a special space-grade epoxy. They basically slapped a glorified Band-Aid on the hull and hoped the pressure wouldn't pop it like a zit.

It worked, but it’s a sobering reminder that even in a multi-billion dollar tin can, your life might eventually depend on some sticky goo and a bit of luck.

How did the vacuum not just slurp his thumb through that hole?

The vacuum of space isn't a high-powered shop vac. We're only talking about one atmosphere of pressure—roughly 14.7 pounds per square inch. It’s annoying, not a 'Total Recall' death scene.

It’s basically an aggressive, cosmic hickey. It would bruise and feel like the universe was trying to give him a purple heart, but his thumb is too sturdy to be slurped through a 2-millimeter hole like a noodle.

The real danger was the 'hiss' of their oxygen vanishing. The thumb was just a fleshy, temporary cork while the rest of the crew scrambled for the epoxy.

But how did they even find a 2mm hole in that giant maze?

It wasn't like a movie where a siren blares and a red light points to the leak. It started as a boring spreadsheet problem—the ground crew noticed a tiny, unexplained dip in air pressure while the astronauts were sleeping.

To find the "needle in the haystack," they didn't use high-tech scanners. They used a "divide and conquer" method, sealing off hatches one by one like they were playing a high-stakes game of hide-and-seek with their own oxygen.

Once they narrowed it down to the Soyuz, they used an ultrasonic leak detector—basically a high-tech ear—to listen for the high-pitched whistle of air escaping. It’s like hunting a mosquito in your bedroom at 3 AM, except the mosquito is trying to suffocate you.

Can you actually hear the noise from such a tiny hole?

It’s not a tea kettle whistle; it’s a frantic hiss. Because air is rushing from a pressurized room into a total void, it hits the hole's edges with enough violence to create high frequency vibrations.

Your ears might miss it over the station's fans, but the detector is tuned to those specific 'screams.' It listens for the friction of air molecules tripping over each other as they flee.

It turns the leak into a game of 'hot or cold.' The closer you get, the more the device squeals, pinpointing exactly where the station is bleeding out.