ISS Astronauts Told To Prepare For Possible Evacuation Over Air Leak
(Friday June 05, 2026 @11:20AM (BeauHD)
from the hunker-down dept.)
- Reference: 0183610308
- News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/06/05/1515246/iss-astronauts-told-to-prepare-for-possible-evacuation-over-air-leak
- Source link:
NASA ordered astronauts on the International Space Station to [1]shelter in their spacecraft and prepare for possible evacuation after a worsening air leak in the Russian Zvezda service module's transfer tunnel. The Guardian reports:
> The four astronauts of NASA's Crew-12 mission on the station -- two US astronauts, a French astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut -- received orders from NASA mission control at 9.04am ET (2pm BST) on Friday to enter their Crew Dragon spacecraft docked to the station and don their spacesuits in case the air leak warranted an emergency evacuation, a NASA official said.
>
> NASA and Russia's space agency Roscosmos, the station's two primary operators, have debated for months over the cause and potential fixes of small air leaks onboard Russia's Zvezda service module, a key structure of the football-pitch-sized laboratory. The air leaks have been relatively minor in recent months. But on Monday the problem escalated from a pound of air per day to two pounds (0.9kg) a senior Nasa official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
UPDATE: "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," Bethany Stevens, a spokesperson for NASA, [2]posted on X .
"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."
Developing...
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/science/live/2026/jun/05/international-space-station-astronauts-evacuation-air-leak-latest-news-updates
[2] https://x.com/NASASpox/status/2062911600181350832?s=20
> The four astronauts of NASA's Crew-12 mission on the station -- two US astronauts, a French astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut -- received orders from NASA mission control at 9.04am ET (2pm BST) on Friday to enter their Crew Dragon spacecraft docked to the station and don their spacesuits in case the air leak warranted an emergency evacuation, a NASA official said.
>
> NASA and Russia's space agency Roscosmos, the station's two primary operators, have debated for months over the cause and potential fixes of small air leaks onboard Russia's Zvezda service module, a key structure of the football-pitch-sized laboratory. The air leaks have been relatively minor in recent months. But on Monday the problem escalated from a pound of air per day to two pounds (0.9kg) a senior Nasa official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
UPDATE: "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," Bethany Stevens, a spokesperson for NASA, [2]posted on X .
"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."
Developing...
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/science/live/2026/jun/05/international-space-station-astronauts-evacuation-air-leak-latest-news-updates
[2] https://x.com/NASASpox/status/2062911600181350832?s=20
Question (Score:2)
If air is leaking out, is it not possible to do an EVA and try to see where it is leaking on the outside? Wouldn't the air freeze once it hits space? Yes, I realize there is the issue of what would carry away the heat, but shouldn't they still see something, even if it's a pinhole?
Re: (Score:1)
Sounds like a job for Flex Seal!
Re: (Score:3)
Guessing here but I would assume a pinhole would leak far more than a pound or two of air in that time frame given the tremendous pressure differential. I would ponder the leak is probably incredibly small or maybe even complex like a material that is atomically becoming porous like an air stone.
But I am just speculating
Re: (Score:2)
My math(assuming 94kPa to vaccuum) puts the "hole" at 0.2mm to leak 1kg per day.