Four astronauts on the International Space Station have been told by NASA to make themselves at home in their spacecraft and be ready to leave if they have to, following a spate of trouble with an air leak in the Russian segment. You could call it a case of the safety of the crew and the strain on an aging outpost coming to the fore.
Urgent move after leak intensified
At 9:04 am ET Monday, mission control had the team head into the docked Crew Dragon and put on their suits just in case, per a NASA official. The agency put it down to being overly cautious.
The numbers tell the story of why. A senior official says the leak was up to two pounds of air a day on Monday, double what it was before. That’s what made them issue the order to shelter while they figure out where to go from here.
Fault zone and planned repair
You can put the blame on the Zvezda, one of the main pieces of the complex. Bethany Stevens of NASA says the PrK transfer tunnel has had its share of cracks and seepage over the years, and Roscosmos has been doing what they can to hold it in check.
Stevens says the two sides have been at it to get to the bottom of things while Russia has been making do with workarounds and the odd patch job. But with fresh leaks in the mix, Roscosmos is set for a bigger operation on June 5th, she says.
What the tunnel does
It’s how you get around in the Russian section and where the systems run. Even a minor breach can add up and put a strain on your life-support, so it’s something you can’t ignore.
Who is sheltering on the station
There are four of them: Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway from SpaceX’s Crew-12, Sophie Adenot with the ESA, and Andrey Fedyaev of Roscosmos. They’ve been up there since February, putting in the work on some of the tech and science that will see us to the Moon and Mars down the line.
Immediate steps and what to watch
While the Russians are in there making repairs, the crew is in a position to undock in a hurry if they’re told to. For now, it’s a precaution as they deal with the leak.
Some of the things to keep an eye on:
– How the June 5th fix goes
– Whether the leak rate budge
– How long the crew has to stay put
Why this matters for the ISS
This is all part of a pattern for a station that has been in play for a long time. There has been some back and forth between NASA and Roscosmos for months on these small, reoccurring leaks and what to do about them in the long run – it’s no easy task to maintain a joint venture like this.
Right now, it’s about keeping the cabin pressure and the people safe. A good repair and we’re back to business. If not, mission control has ways to handle it, from more time in the ship to a full evacuation in the Crew Dragon.
They will have you know the crew is in no danger. But with the leak on the rise and some wear and tear in the Zvezda tunnel, it puts a premium on good coordination. We’ll see in the days around June 5th if the station can get back to its normal rhythm.
