Space and Physics
PUBLISHED
Being an astronaut is certainly not all sunshine and rainbows, and the current inhabitants of the ISS have experienced that today. The Crew-12 astronauts and cosmonauts were given orders by NASA to shelter in the Crew Dragon spacecraft that took them to the International Space Station in February.
The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, together with ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot and cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, and NASA astronaut Chris Williams (not part of Crew-12) went into this precautionary procedure following orders from mission control at 9:04 EDT. They have now return to regular operations.
The Crew Dragon capsule remained attached to the station, but the astronauts had to don their spacesuits in case the air leak warranted an emergency evacuation, a NASA official said.
"Out of an abundance of caution, NASA has directed all four of the agency's SpaceX Crew-12 members and NASA astronaut Chris Williams to assume an elevated safety posture in the Dragon spacecraft while the repair is underway," NASA spoke person Bethany Stevens said in a tweet.
The problem of the leak is serious but not urgent. It quickly became clear that whatever approach was needed to repair this new problem, it would take more time.
"Roscosmos has paused Friday’s structural repair efforts inside the Zvezda service module transfer tunnel, known as PrK, as more measurements and data is assessed," Stevens said in a follow-up tweet.
"Given this development, NASA has instructed the crew members inside the Dragon spacecraft to end the safe haven procedures and return to planned operations aboard the International Space Station. We look forward to working with Roscosmos on a collaborative approach to address the leaks."
ISS leaks: a worsening problem
This has been a problem for a long while. Since at least 2021, cracks and leaks have been reported in the ISS, and this latest one is just a worsening of the current situation.
“On-going cracks and air leaks in the Service Module Transfer Tunnel are a top safety risk; and NASA and Roscosmos are collaborating to investigate and mitigate the cracks and leaks, determine the root cause, and monitor the Station for new leaks. However, in April 2024 NASA identified an increase in the leak rate to its highest level to date,” a 2024 report states.
"Following new leaks, Roscosmos has elected to proceed with a more extensive repair operation on Friday, June 5," Stevens continued.
The ISS is over 25 years old, and it is expected to be retired in 2030, although this might change.
There is no plan currently for an evacuation, but only few months ago Crew-11 had to perform the first-ever medical evacuation from space, following a concerning medical issue with NASA astronaut Mike Fincke.
