- It follows several leaks of gas and coolant fluid from ISS in the past few years
- The ageing orbiting laboratory is set to be decommissioned in six years’ time
Not for the first time, the International Space Station has sprung a leak.
A module on the Russian side of the orbiting laboratory, called Zvezda, is leaking air through a 3ft-hole, NASA has confirmed.
Thankfully, because the module has been sealed off from the rest of the space station, there’s no danger to the seven astronauts on board.
The ageing space station, which floats in low Earth orbit at an altitude of 254 miles, is set to be decommissioned by 2030.
It follows several leaks of gas and coolant fluid from ISS in the past few years, including one from a mysterious hole allegedly made deliberately.
The leak was revealed by ISS program manager Joel Montalbano during a live press briefing this week in Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
‘I’d say that area is about three feet or so in length,’ Montalbano said.
‘We’ve been watching this for a while; this area has had some leaks – in fact we’ve repaired a couple of cracks in that module part.’
‘We’re working with our Russian colleagues on the next step.’
He added that it is not impacting operations or the crew’s safety but is ‘something for everybody to be aware of’.
Akin to different rooms in a building, the space station’s various modules are run by five space agencies – NASA (US), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), CSA (Canada).
Because the ISS is separated into airtight modules, the one owned by Russia that has the leak, called Zvezda, can be sealed off.
‘When we close that hatch, the rest of the space station, the rest of the Russian modules, the rest of the US modules, European, Japanese – everything is solid,’ Montalbano said.
In its own statement, Russia’s space agency Roscosmos confirmed the leak and said none of the crew are in any danger.
‘Indeed, specialists have detected an air leak onboard the ISS,’ Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said in a statement.
‘There is no threat to crewmembers or the station itself.’
The Zvezda module is a key part of the Russian half of the station as it provides the segment with oxygen and drinkable water.
It also houses CO2 scrubbers which remove the gas exhaled from inhabitants, and has the sleeping quarters, bathroom and dining room for the Russian cosmonauts.
This is not the first time a leak has sprung from the Zvezda module, which was sent to space to dock with other ISS components back in July 2000.
NASA officials first detected air coming from the space station in September 2019 before making it public the following year.
It was only later that the leak was identified as coming from the Zvezda module, and attempts were made to patch it up – although it’s unclear if they were successful.
It’s possible this fresh leak is from the same hole; MailOnline has contacted NASA for more information.
It follows a leak of vital coolant fluid from the ISS last year, described as serious but not threatening to lives of the on-board astronauts.
Back in 2018, another hole that caused a pressure leak on the ISS was fixed by space station crew.
Former Roscosmos director general Dmitry Rogozin said the hole was not from an manufacturing defect and implied it was likely made by hand.
In response, NASA said in a statement that this conclusion ‘does not necessarily mean the hole was created intentionally or with mal-intent’.
The exact cause of the breach was thought to be a botched repair job by an engineer who drilled through the side of the spacecraft.
However, some made allegations of subterfuge and deliberate sabotage.
Dr James Blake, a space debris researcher at the University of Warwick, said leaks like this could be addressed when designing components for future space stations.
‘As the ISS approaches the tail end of its third decade in space, attention will soon shift to its likely successors,’ he told MailOnline.
‘Leaks can cause disruption – in the past year or so, we’ve seen space walks cancelled and unplanned extensions to crew expeditions.’
NASA is set to 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 are set to return to Earth later this month.
Dr. Thomas Hughes is a UK-based scientist and science communicator who makes complex topics accessible to readers. His articles explore breakthroughs in various scientific disciplines, from space exploration to cutting-edge research.
