This is not the first time that the International Space Station has suffered a leak.
A module on the Russian side of the orbiting laboratory, called Zvezda, is leaking air through a three-foot hole, NASA has confirmed.
Fortunately, there is no danger to the seven astronauts on board, because the module is isolated from the rest of the space station.
The aging space station, which floats in low Earth orbit at an altitude of 400 kilometers, is expected to be decommissioned in 2030.
It follows several leaks of gas and coolant from the ISS in recent years, including one from a mysterious hole that was reportedly created on purpose.
A module on the Russian side of the orbiting laboratory, called Zvezda, is leaking air through a hole three feet deep, NASA has confirmed. In the center of this photo is the Russian freighter Progress 21, docked in Zvezda
The leak was revealed this week by ISS program manager Joel Montalbano during a live press conference at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
“I estimate this area is about three feet long,” Montalbano said.
‘We’ve been looking at this for a while; this area has had some leaks – in fact, we’ve repaired a few cracks in that module section.”
“We are working with our Russian colleagues on the next step.”
He added that this will not impact operations or crew safety, but it is “something everyone should be aware of.”
Like different rooms in a building, the different modules of the space station are managed by five space agencies: NASA (USA), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), CSA (Canada).
Because the ISS is divided into airtight modules, the Russian-owned module with the leak, called Zvezda, can be sealed.
“If we close that hatch, the rest of the space station, the rest of the Russian modules, the rest of the American modules, European, Japanese — everything is solid,” Montalbano said.
In its own statement, Russia’s Roscosmos space agency confirmed the leak and said none of the crew members are in danger.
“Indeed, specialists have discovered an air leak on board the ISS,” the Russian space agency Roscosmos said in a statement.
“There is no threat to the crew members or the station itself.”
The ISS has been continuously occupied by astronauts since November 2000, but is due to be decommissioned by 2030 due to structural fatigue
The ISS is divided into two main sections, the Russian Orbital Segment (ROS) and the US Orbital Segment (USOS). Inset photo shows three former space station residents
The Zvezda module is an important part of the Russian half of the station, as it supplies the segment with oxygen and drinkable water.
It also houses CO2 scrubbers that remove gas exhaled by residents, and houses the sleeping quarters, bathrooms and dining rooms for the Russian cosmonauts.
This is not the first time a leak has emerged from the Zvezda module, which was sent into space in July 2000 to connect to other ISS components.
NASA officials first detected air coming from the space station in September 2019 before making it public the following year.
Only later was it determined that the leak came from the Zvezda module, and attempts were made to repair it – although it is unclear whether they were successful.
It’s possible that this new leak is coming from the same hole; MailOnline has contacted NASA for more information.
It follows a leak of vital coolant from the ISS last year, which was described as serious but not threatening the lives of the astronauts on board.
In 2018, another hole that caused a pressure leak in the ISS was repaired by the space station crew.
In August 2018, astronauts rushed to repair a hole (pictured) that had appeared in the outer wall of the Soyuz capsule in the orbiting laboratory. Its origin is still a mystery
Former Roscosmos director general Dmitry Rogozin said the hole was not the result of a manufacturing error and suggested it was probably made by hand.
In response, NASA said in a statement that this conclusion “does not necessarily mean the hole was created intentionally or with malicious intent.”
The exact cause of the rupture was thought to be a botched repair by an engineer drilling through the side of the spacecraft.
However, some leveled accusations of subterfuge and deliberate sabotage.
Dr. James Blake, a space debris researcher at the University of Warwick, said these types of leaks could be addressed when designing components for future space stations.
“As the ISS approaches the end of its third decade in space, attention will quickly shift to its likely successors,” he told MailOnline.
‘Leaks can cause disruptions. Over the past year, we have seen canceled spacewalks and unplanned expansions of crew expeditions.”
NASA will launch four more astronauts to the ISS on Saturday (March 2) aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft.
Meanwhile, another four ISS crew members who have been there since August 2023 will return to Earth later this month.