Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) were instructed to seek shelter and prepare for a possible evacuation due to escalating air leaks in the Russian segment of the renowned space research facility.
Following the deterioration of the air leaks, five astronauts, comprising three US nationals, one French astronaut, and a Russian cosmonaut, were directed by NASA mission control to enter the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, which was docked at the ISS on Friday afternoon.
Orders for safe shelter are uncommon, and a full evacuation of the space station has never been carried out since its launch into orbit in November 1998. NASA officials rescinded the evacuation order after two directives and allowed the crew to return to the ISS while Russia’s space agency Roscosmos investigated the air leaks.
Roscosmos temporarily halted repairs on the leaks once the astronauts re-entered the station. NASA spokesperson Bethany Stevens mentioned that the pause was necessary for conducting measurements and analyzing data.
Stevens stated, “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. 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.”
Roscosmos confirmed the detection of two leaks on the ISS, noting that they do not pose an immediate threat to the crew or the station’s onboard systems. The first leak was promptly sealed, and preparations are underway to mend the second one.
The persistent issue of air leaks at the ISS in the Zvezda service module transfer tunnel, connecting the Russian segment to the rest of the space station, has been ongoing for at least seven years.
NASA has been addressing problems with the air leaks since September 2019, with the ISS consisting of multiple American and Russian segments, supplemented by additional modules from the European and Japanese space agencies in 2008.
Presently, the ISS is home to seven astronauts participating in two distinct missions. The Crew-12 team includes NASA’s Jack Hathaway and Jessica Meir, the European Space Agency’s Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos’s Andrey Fedyaev, who arrived at the space station in February. Additional crew members who arrived in November are American Christopher Williams and Russians Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikayev.