Roscosmos Pauses 2-Pound-a-Day ISS Leak Repair as NASA Lifts 5-Crew Shelter Order
Updated
Updated · Gizmodo · Jun 9
Roscosmos Pauses 2-Pound-a-Day ISS Leak Repair as NASA Lifts 5-Crew Shelter Order
3 articles · Updated · Gizmodo · Jun 9
Summary
Roscosmos halted a plan to cut into the ISS Zvezda transfer tunnel after NASA warned the saw-based repair could raise structural risk, and NASA canceled a shelter-in-place order about two hours later.
The emergency step followed a worsening leak in the Russian segment: Roscosmos said the air loss had doubled from 1 pound a day to 2 and identified new suspected leak areas in the PrK vestibule.
Five crew members had been told to take refuge in the docked SpaceX Dragon while two Russian cosmonauts prepared the repair; Roscosmos will now gather more measurements and inspect previously sealed spots.
One of two suspected cracks may have been sealed, but the broader problem remains unresolved as NASA and Roscosmos still disagree over both the repair approach and the threshold for calling the leak unsustainable.