A deteriorating air leakage on the International Space Station (ISS) led to five astronauts seeking shelter and preparing for evacuation for approximately two hours on Friday while Russia worked on fixing a crack on its part of the orbital lab, NASA reported. The four Crew-12 mission astronauts, consisting of two American astronauts, a French astronaut, and a Russian cosmonaut, as well as another U.S. astronaut, were instructed by NASA at 9:04 a.m. ET on Friday to enter their SpaceX-made Crew Dragon spacecraft attached to the station.
After about two hours, NASA rescinded the order, allowing the astronauts to return to the station as both NASA and Russian space agency Roscosmos assessed the air leak situation. NASA and Roscosmos have been in discussions for months regarding the cause and potential solutions for minor air leaks within Russia’s Zvezda service module on the ISS.
Former NASA chief astronaut Chris Cassidy, who oversaw Expedition 63 on the ISS in 2020, recalled being informed of a leak during his tenure. Cassidy mentioned the ongoing efforts by engineers from both sides to address the persistent issue.
Roscosmos confirmed detecting two leaks on the ISS but assured that the crew was not in immediate danger. The first leak was promptly sealed, and efforts were underway to address the second leak while ensuring the spacecraft’s systems were unaffected.
The air leak situation escalated on that Friday, with the leak rate doubling from one pound of air per day to two pounds, as per a senior unnamed NASA official. The current ISS residents include seven astronauts from two missions, with the Crew-12 team, composed of NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, who arrived in February.
Preparations were made to seal the second leak, with cosmonauts planning to access the crack causing the air leak. However, NASA officials raised concerns about the method, leading to a safe-haven order being issued by mission control in Houston as a precautionary measure.
Safe-haven orders are infrequent on the ISS, typically triggered by potential collisions with space debris or significant changes in air leak rates. Astronauts have never evacuated the ISS in its 27-year history. Collaboration between NASA and Roscosmos continues to address the leaks, with legislation pending in the U.S. Congress to extend the ISS’s operational lifespan until 2032.
The bill, supported by Senators Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell, aims to extend the ISS’s operational timeline and enhance U.S. competitiveness in space, particularly against China’s expanding space activities. Congressional leaders are working towards consensus on the proposed legislation.