ISS astronauts ordered to take shelter as they're put on 'evacuation alert' over 'air leaks'
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have been told to prepare for a potential evacuation after an air leak was reported.
NASA has reportedly told the astronauts to ‘assume an elevated safety posture in the Dragon spacecraft’.
The space agency assured this was ‘out of an abundance of caution’, going on to state: “We continue to work with our Russian counterparts, along with the rest of the international community that supports the space station, to arrive at a more permanent resolution.”
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This comes as Roscosmos cosmonauts are working to try to fix the issue.
On X, formerly Twitter, NASA press secretary Bethany Stevens, wrote: “The Zvezda service module transfer tunnel, known as PrK, has suffered from cracks and leaks for some time, and has been mitigated by Roscosmos as much as possible to date. The cracks have always been a concern that NASA watches very closely. NASA and Roscosmos have been working to determine the root cause of the cracks, and Roscosmos manages the issue through operational mitigation measures and periodic partial-repair efforts.
“Following new leaks, Roscosmos has elected to proceed with a more extensive repair operation on Friday, June 5. Out of an abundance of caution, NASA has directed all four of the agency's SpaceX Crew-12 members and NASA astronaut Chris Williams to assume an elevated safety posture in the Dragon spacecraft while the repair is underway.”
This news comes just days after it was reported that the ISS was suffering more air leaks.
NASA previously confirmed air leaks on the ISS
NASA confirmed that data analysis has suggested that the ISS is losing around one pound of air every day.
Speaking to Ars Technica, NASA spokesperson Josh Finch explained: “Teams performed data analysis, which indicated a loss of about one pound per day. Roscosmos allowed the pressure in the transfer tunnel to gradually decrease while monitoring the rate. The area now is being maintained at a lower pressure, with small repressurizations as needed.”
According to Ars Technica, the potential for a ‘catastrophic failure’ of the ISS has been discussed in meetings behind closed doors, as using NASA’s 5x5 risk assessment, these leaks have been given a 5 on its likelihood and consequence factor.
Phil McAlister, who is NASA’s former director of commercial spaceflight, added: “This further confirms the wisdom of the current policy of retiring the ISS in 2030 and replacing it with more modern, more cost-effective, and safer commercial platforms.”
Who is on board the ISS right now?
There are currently seven astronauts stuck aboard the ISS currently as it orbits around the Earth.
This includes NASA's Christopher Williams, Jack Hathaway, and Jessica Meir, Russian Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, Sergey Mikaye, and Andrey Fedyaev, as well as European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Sophie Adenot.
It has not yet been confirmed exactly what steps these astronauts will need to take but preparations are being made for a possible evacuation.