NASA orders emergency evacuation after Russia threatened to use a 'saw' on the ISS

NASA's issues on the International Space Station (ISS) have continued to unfurl, as while the iconic port is seemingly falling apart ahead of its eventual decommission, the space agency has been forced to enact an emergency evacuation after Russian astronauts threaten to use a 'saw'.

It specifically relates to the connection between Russia's Zvezda module and the rear docking port of the space station, with a tunnel section referred to as 'PrK' notorious for leaking air for a number of years now.

While this has been a problem NASA and other space agencies have been aware of for a while, it's danger appeared to escalate significantly in recent weeks with the U.S. advising its astronauts to take shelter as Roscosmos members attempted to fix the problem.

It all appeared to have been resolved, as per Futurism, with quiet from both agencies leaving many to infer that the problem was behind them — yet a recent statement from an anonymous official has indicated that Russia's actions caused significant concerns in the NASA camp.

Conflict emerged between the U.S. and Russia after the latter attempted to fix an ISS issue with a 'saw' (NASA via Getty Images)

Speaking to both Ars Technica and The Register, the unnamed NASA official outlines how the space agency's decision to move its astronauts to the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft was an active protest against Russia's plan, but Roscosmos seemingly "didn't care."

This plan appeared to involve either a handsaw or a 'drill' and a 'drill stop', with cosmonauts even heading towards the "PrK module with a saw and the intent to remove a load-bearing bracket," which understandably prompted alarm on the American side of things.

"We felt there was a very high probability of a bad outcome happening if they sawed that bracket off," the official explained, and they eventually managed to halt the plan and prevent any further damage from happening.

The issue emerged within the PrK module between the Zvezda and the ISS, but cosmonauts did eventually back down from their 'risky' plan (Nasa/Newsmakers)

This is definitely positive news for the short term, but it could have a significant impact on the International Space Station's operations going forward — both with the PrK module out of action and tensions seemingly strained between the U.S. and Russia.

One of the biggest marvels of the ISS is its ability to bring many of the world's biggest powers together in an act of cooperation across several decades, yet that perhaps could be at risk now that conflict has emerged, even though the situation cooled down by the end.

Additionally, the PrK module is now officially decommissioned for the time being until the issue is fixed and therefore cannot be used, limiting the operations of the ISS going forward — although without it the space station can still continue to function.