The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), on Friday asked five of its seven its astronauts currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to seek shelter in the docked SpaceX crew Dragon “Freedom” aircraft as concerns arose over an air leak in Russia’s module of the aircraft.
The warning was largely issues as a precaution as the Russian crew tries to fix some cracks in its transfer tunnel.
In addition, the space body urged its astronauts to potentially prepare for evacuation if the situation continues to worsen. Orders were issued from the mission control at 9:04 AM ET on Monday to enter the docker aircraft on the station and wear their spacesuits in case the leak demands and emergency evacuation.
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“The Zvezda service module transfer tunnel, known as PrK, has suffered from cracks and leaks for some time, and has been mitigated by Roscosmos as much as possible to date,” NASA spokesperson Bethany Stevens revealed via a social media post. “The cracks have always been a concern that NASA watches very closely. NASA and Roscosmos have been working to determine the root cause of the cracks, and Roscosmos manages the issue through operational mitigation measures and periodic partial-repair efforts.”
The orders were received by four members of NASA’s 12-crew mission on the station including two US astronauts, a French astronaut and Russian cosmonaut. Following this, mission control told crew members that they were comfortable backing out of the safe haven configuration once the Russians decided to perform measurements on Friday, news agency CBS reports.
Cracks cause air leaks
The air leaks in Russia’s module were reported as part of a growing concern over several years regarding persisting cracks in the orbital laboratory. “The cracks have always been a concern that NASA watches very closely,” the agency said in a statement Friday. The cracks remain a top safety concern.
A debate over the matter has ensued between NASA and Russia’s space agency Roscosmos for months. As the two primary operators of the station, potential fixes were suggested for small air leaks aboard Russia’s Zvezda service module, a small yet vital portion of the football field-sized laboratory.
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As a result of these cracks, Roscosmos recorded a slow pressure drop in the transfer tunnel since the arrival of a Russian cargo ship last month. Since, then the two agencies have been trying to address the issue through “operational mitigation measures and periodic partial-repair efforts.”
Despite being relatively minor in recent months, the volume of air leaks increased from about a pound of air per day to two pounds, as revealed by an anonymous, senior NASA official to Reuters.
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“We continue to work with our Russian counterparts, along with the rest of the international community that supports the space station, to arrive at a more permanent resolution,” NASA said.
Roscosmos, in its inspection, detected two leaks and sealed one, declaring no immediate threat to the crew