NASA astronaut, Russian cosmonauts woken to find space station leak
NASA said the leak poses no immediate danger to the crewmembers
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner were woken on Monday night to search for a small leak on the International Space Station.
“Late Monday night, the Expedition 63 crew was awakened by flight controllers to continue troubleshooting a small leak on the International Space Station that appeared to grow in size,” said NASA in a statement released Tuesday. “Ground analysis of the modules tested overnight have isolated the leak location to the main work area of the Zvezda Service Module.”
NASA noted that the leak, which has been investigated for several weeks, poses no immediate danger to the crewmembers.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NASA WORKING TO ISOLATE SPACE STATION AIR LEAK
Station Commander Cassidy, Ivanishin and Vagner were told to collect data from various locations in the Russian segment of the space station.
“One by one, the crew closed hatches between Zvezda’s aft and forward sections and Zvezda’s passageways to the Pirs Docking Compartment and the Poisk module while using an ultrasonic leak detector to collect data,” NASA said. “Throughout the night, pressure measurements were taken by U.S. and Russian specialists to try to isolate the source of the leak.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}International Space Station file photo, May 29, 2011. (NASA)
After completing the checks, the hatches between the U.S. and Russian segments of the space station were opened again and the crew resumed their normal duties.
“The size of the leak identified overnight has since been attributed to a temporary temperature change aboard the station with the overall rate of leak remaining unchanged,” NASA noted.
NASA LAUNCH MAY BE VISIBLE ALONG MUCH OF THE EAST COAST
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News has reached out to NASA with a request for comment on this story.
Last month, a small leak in the U.S. segment of the orbiting space station resulted in Cassidy briefly joining Ivanishin and Vagner in the Russian Zvezda service module.
Cassidy, a U.S. Navy captain who spent 11 years as a member of the Navy SEALs, launched to the orbiting space lab on April 9, 2020.
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