The alert on the International Space Station lasted about two hours and was lifted after an assessment of the situation. Roscosmos reported two leaks in the Russian Zvezda module, but said there was no immediate danger to the crew and that the pressure on the station was stable.
NASA today ordered five crew members on the International Space Station to board SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft and don spacesuits, as part of preparations for a possible evacuation. The order was given following a worsening air leak in the Russian section of the station, while Russian cosmonauts were trying to address the source of the leak. About two hours later, the order was canceled, and the astronauts were allowed to return to activity on the station. (Reuters)
According to Reuters, the order was issued at 9:04 a.m. Eastern Time. It applies to the four members of the Crew-12 mission – American astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, French astronaut Sophie Adenaut and Russian cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev – as well as another American astronaut, Christopher Williams. Three other crew members on the station, two cosmonauts and an American astronaut, did not enter the evacuation procedure.
The source of the malfunction is in the Russian Zvezda service module, one of the key components of the space station. This is not the first incident of an air leak in this area. NASA and Roscosmos have been monitoring small, recurring leaks for months, but according to a senior NASA official quoted by Reuters, the leak rate has increased today from half a kilogram of air per day to a kilogram per day.
Roscosmos later said that its experts had detected two leaks in the Zvezda module's transfer chamber. According to the Russian agency, one of the leaks has already been sealed with sealant, and preparations are underway to seal the second leak, located in the conical area of the transfer chamber. The agency stressed that there is no immediate danger to the crew or the station's systems, and that the pressure inside the station is stable and maintained at the calculated level.
Sawing an internal part in the Russian area of the station
The tension between the parties also touched on the repair method. According to the report, two Russian cosmonauts tried to reach the crack area by sawing off an internal part of the structure. A NASA official told Reuters that the American agency did not agree with this method, and as a result, the control center in Houston ordered the entry into “safe haven” procedure in the Dragon spacecraft docked to the station.
Such a procedure is considered rare on the space station. It is usually activated when there is a relatively immediate concern, for example, from a nearby passage of space debris or an unusual change in air pressure. To date, the International Space Station has not been evacuated in practice since its manned operation began. In the current case, the mere cancellation of the order after about two hours indicates that this is not an immediate exit event from the station, but rather a precautionary measure while an engineering situation assessment is being carried out. (AP News)
However, the incident once again highlights the complex state of the International Space Station, whose first components were launched in the late 1990s. Key parts of the station are already operating well beyond their original design life, and the international system that operates it is required not only for scientific research but also for the ongoing maintenance of an aging infrastructure in orbit around the Earth.
Short FAQ:
Were the astronauts evacuated from the space station?
No. They entered the Crew Dragon spacecraft as part of a precautionary procedure, but the order was canceled after about two hours.
Where was the leak discovered?
In the Russian region of the space station, in the Zvezda service module and its transition compartment.
Is there any danger to the team?
According to Roscosmos, there is no immediate danger to the crew or the station's systems, and the pressure on the station is stable. NASA has nevertheless activated a temporary precautionary procedure.
