Amid a deteriorating air leak situation on the International Space Station (ISS), five astronauts sought refuge and prepared for evacuation for approximately two hours on Friday as Russian officials endeavored to mend a crack in their section of the orbital laboratory, as per NASA reports.
The Crew-12 mission team, comprising two American astronauts, a French astronaut, and a Russian cosmonaut, along with another U.S. astronaut, were instructed by NASA mission control at 9:04 a.m. ET on Friday to enter their SpaceX-designed Crew Dragon spacecraft attached to the station, stated NASA spokesperson Bethany Stevens.
After about two hours, NASA rescinded the directive, allowing the astronauts to return to the station while assessments of the air leak rate were conducted by the space agency and its Russian counterparts.
Ongoing discussions between NASA and Russia’s Roscosmos space agency, the primary operators of the ISS, have revolved around identifying the cause and solutions for minor air leaks within Russia’s Zvezda service module, a crucial component of the ISS where astronauts reside and carry out tasks in space.
Former NASA Chief Astronaut Chris Cassidy, who led Expedition 63 on the ISS in 2020, disclosed that staff were initially alerted to a leak during that period. Cassidy noted the persistent challenge of addressing the leak over the past five to six years, with engineers from both sides working to develop repair strategies.
Roscosmos announced the detection of two leaks on the ISS on Friday but assured that there was no immediate peril to the crew. The initial leak was swiftly sealed, with efforts underway to address the second leak, as per Roscosmos, emphasizing that the spacecraft’s systems were not compromised.
While air leaks had been relatively minor in recent months, the leak rate surged on Friday from one pound of air per day to two pounds, according to a senior unnamed NASA official. This escalation prompted concerns as the timeline for potential atmosphere depletion shortened significantly.
The ISS is currently home to seven astronauts from two missions, including the Crew-12 team that arrived in February, comprising NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.
Meanwhile, astronauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikayev, who did not follow evacuation procedures, proposed using a saw to access the area of the air leak. Disagreements arose between NASA and the Russian officials on the repair method, leading to the implementation of safe-haven protocols by mission control in Houston.
Safe-haven directives are infrequent on the ISS, typically triggered by potential collisions with space debris or shifts in air leak rates. Despite these challenges, astronauts have never evacuated the ISS in its 27-year history.
Efforts are ongoing to collaborate with Russian counterparts and the international community to resolve the air leak issues permanently, as noted by the NASA spokesperson. Legislative actions are being pursued in the U.S. Congress to extend the operational lifespan of the space station until 2032, allowing for the development of a successor platform.
The proposed legislation, supported by Senators Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell, aims to address the growing presence of China in space and is currently under review by Senate and House leaders for consensus.