Air leak detected on International Space Station: How dangerous is it?

An air leak has been detected in the Russian compartment of the International Space Station (ISS). The press service of Roscosmos reported that employees regularly carry out work to detect and eliminate possible leaks. There is no threat to the lives of personnel due to the leak.

“Specialists are eliminating the air leak in the ISS. Employees regularly carry out work to detect and eliminate possible leaks, and the data received from the station is routinely transferred to specialists for analysis. There is no danger for the crew and the station,” the Roscosmos press service explained to the media ", adding that a leak was found in the rear of the Russian Zvezda service module, where Progress cargo ships dock.

The commander of the Roscosmos cosmonaut corps, Oleg Kononenko, in turn, said that the leak does not threaten the lives of the crew. “Indeed, there is an air leak from the transition chamber of the Zvezda service module. The leak does not pose a threat to the safety of the crew. The flight continues as normal. In addition to conducting scientific experiments, I have added work to search and localize the leak,” he said.

Roscosmos noted that the ISS is already outdated and therefore repair work requires a lot of staff time. Chief designer of RSC Energia Vladimir Solovyov said that up to 50% of cosmonauts’ useful time is spent on repair work.

Earlier, Joel Montalbano, former ISS program manager at the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), said that air leaks in the Russian sector doubled about a week before the recent launch of the Progress MS-26 cargo spacecraft and docking with station.

The Zvezda service module of the Russian section of the ISS has been part of the station since July 2000. Previously, leaks were discovered in its transition and intermediate chambers, but their location was not precisely established.