ISS leaks among 50 ‘areas of concern’ for astronaut safety: report

NASA and its Russian counterpart have identified 50 “areas of concern” related to a long-term leak aboard the space station, a media report said.

The leak has been ongoing since 2019 in the Russian segment International Space Station (ISS) and was the focus of a new report from NASA‘s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) was published in September. While NASA and Roscosmos address the leak, it remains a top “security risk” to astronauts on board, according to the OIG report.

NASA officials, speaking in a exclusively with the Washington Postsaid it is tracking four cracks and 50 other “areas of concern” on the ISS. The cracks have been “all covered with a combination of sealants and patches” by Roscosmos, NASA noted in a statement to the newspaper, and fixes are underway. Still, the leaky area is the highest risk, at a 5 on a scale of 5, in NASA’s internal risk assessments, the OIG said.

“We have conveyed the seriousness of the leaks several times, including when I was in Russia earlier this year,” Associate Administrator Jim Free added in an interview with the Post. Because the leaks are adjacent to a hatch, Free added that Roscosmos agreed to a request from NASA to close the hatch as much as possible: “We have come to a compromise that they close it in the evening.”

NASA astronauts also remain on the American side of the orbiting complex to be close to their escape vehicles, in the event of the need for evacuation, the agency noted in its statement to the news agency. That said, NASA has repeatedly emphasized that the leak poses no immediate threat to astronauts.

“No impact right now on crew safety or vehicle operations, but something for everyone to be aware of,” ISS program manager Joel Montalbano said at a press conference in February 2024 when the leak temporarily increased to 2.4 pounds per day, up from an all-time low of 0.2 pounds per day.

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A diagram of the International Space Station with the Service Module transfer tunnel labeled. Russian segments, including the tunnel, are visible in red. A leak from this area increased to a new peak of 3.7 pounds per day in April 2024, up from 2.4 pounds per day two months earlier. (Image credit: NASA OIG)

The leak has been around for five years and patches have been ongoing since it was first discovered; Authority officials noted in a live-streamed briefing on September 27 that the repair work reduced the high leak observed in April 2024 by about a third.

The outflowing air originated in a service module transfer tunnel in the Russian Zvezda module launched in 2000. Zvezda, along with the rest of the ISS, is aging and requires maintenance to continue in orbit. The ISS is supposed to last until 2030 to meet both NASA’s personnel needs, and also to provide commercial low earth orbit research. In the next decade, NASA hopes to have a set of commercial space stations ready to take over operations.

NASA’s OIG tracks several other risks that could jeopardize keeping the ISS running for so long, ranging from a sudden micrometeoroid strike to supply chain issues.

SpaceX has been tasked with building a large Dragon-type spacecraft to remove the ISS from orbit, in a contract awarded by NASA earlier this year. The OIG stated that it will look to learn more about the schedule, costs and risks associated with the new vehicle and the turnaround plan.

Originally posted on Space.com.

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ISS leaks among 50 ‘areas of concern’ for astronaut safety: report

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