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The seven astronauts on the International Space Station got a scare Friday morning when air leaks worsened in a Russian module.<\/p>\n
At about 9 a.m. Eastern time, NASA said the astronauts who had traveled to the I.S.S. in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule \u2014 two Americans, one Russian, one French \u2014 had been told to seek \u201csafe haven\u201d in the spacecraft, which was docked at the space station. <\/p>\n
Another NASA astronaut who had arrived in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft joined them in the Crew Dragon, while two other astronauts from Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, prepared to make repairs.<\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing new leaks, Roscosmos has elected to proceed with a more extensive repair operation on Friday, June 5,\u201d Bethany Stevens, the NASA press secretary, posted on social media.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The other astronauts were moved to the Crew Dragon \u201cout of an abundance of caution,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
About an hour and a half later, the immediate emergency was declared over. \u201cOur counterparts in Roscosmos are standing down from any activities,\u201d said Joseph Zakrzewski, a spokesman at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are doing measurements only, so the crew aboard Dragon will be exiting the safe haven posture,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
A tunnel in the Russian Zvezda module has suffered persistent leaking of air since 2019, raising concerns that microscopic cracks in the structure could lead to a catastrophic failure and decompression. As a precaution, the hatch to the tunnel was kept closed when not in use.<\/p>\n
Repeated efforts to track down and repair the leaks appeared to have finally succeeded last year, but the leaks resumed last month.<\/p>\n
In an update on Friday evening, NASA said that during operations this week involving a Russian cargo spacecraft, the leak rate had increased to two pounds per day. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
After identifying areas where the leaks appeared to be occurring, Roscosmos decided to conduct a more extensive inspection and to perform a repair, which included cutting a bracket to provide access to the area. <\/p>\n
That procedure increased the risk of a structural failure in Zvezda, NASA managers decided, leading to their decision to send the five astronauts into the Crew Dragon. <\/p>\n
The Russians later changed their minds and did not perform the repair. Additional measurements and analysis will be performed instead. \u201cNASA strongly supported that decision,\u201d the space agency\u2019s update said.<\/p>\n
Operations on the space station have returned to normal, NASA said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n