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Astronauts on board the International Space Station were ordered to shelter inside their spacecraft after discovering new “cracks and leaks” in the station’s Russian segment’s transfer tunnel, according to a carefully-worded update by NASA press secretary Bethany Stevens.
“Following new leaks, Roscosmos has elected to proceed with a more extensive repair operation on Friday, June 5,” Stevens wrote. “Out of an abundance of caution, NASA has directed all four of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-12 members and NASA astronaut Chris Williams to assume an elevated safety posture in the Dragon spacecraft while the repair is underway.”
“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,” she added.
Stevens did not elaborate on what said “extensive repair operation” entailed, but given the decision to have the Crew-12 astronauts shelter in place inside their spacecraft, it could be a slightly more invasive than usual procedure. There’s currently no reason to believe that crew members are in any danger.
The ISS has struggled with leaks affecting the Russian segment since at least September 2019. Crew members have been busy hunting down these cracks using a wide variety of methods. In one particularly creative attempt in late 2020, cosmonauts used a tea bag to locate a leak by having it slowly drift through the station while watching it with a camera.
Subsequent leaks have forced NASA to postpone spacecraft arrivals, with NASA’s inspector general calling “ongoing cracks and air leaks in the Service Module Transfer Tunnel” a “top safety risk” in 2024.
The ISS is slated to be retired roughly four years from now after decades of permanent occupation by human crews. Unfortunately, its age is undeniably starting to show far ahead of its fiery swan song through the Earth’s atmosphere.
More on leaks: The Space Station Leak Is Rearing Its Ugly Head Again