NASA investigates air leak in ISS's Russian module, poses no current threat
NASA is investigating an air leak in the ISS that appeared in the Russian module of the space station. As reported by Space News, its size has doubled recently and now amounts to about 0.9 kilograms of oxygen per day. However, NASA reassures that the leak currently poses no threat to either the crew or the ISS itself.
The International Space Station continues to face problems with leaking air. On Wednesday, 28 February, during a briefing related to the upcoming Crew-8 mission, NASA's ISS program manager, Joel Montalbano, reported that the leak in the Russian Zvezda module had doubled in size. This occurred about a week before the scheduled 13 February launch of the Progress MS-26 supply vessel into orbit.
However, Montalbano conveyed that at this moment the leak does "not affect the safety of the crew or the operation of the vehicle, but everyone should be aware of it" and emphasized that in this matter, NASA cooperated with the Russian space agency, Roscosmos. He also added that the leak does not endanger the Crew-8 mission, which will be the eighth operational flight of the Crew Dragon capsule to the International Space Station as part of the Commercial Crew Program. Its launch is scheduled for 1 March.
ISS - problems with the Russian module of the space station
This is not the first time that such problems have appeared in the Russian module of the International Space Station. For example, in October 2023, a coolant leak occurred in the Nauka module of the Russian segment of the ISS from an external (spare) cooling circuit, and in December 2022, coolant began to escape into space from the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft shortly before a planned Russian spacewalk.
The International Space Station remains one of the last areas of cooperation between NASA and Roscosmos, reports Science Alert. NASA plans to operate the aging ISS until 2030, while Russia, having declared its intention to withdraw from the ISS in 2024, plans to build its own space station, which will resemble Tiangong, the Chinese space station.
