NASA is breathing a little easier. An evacuation alert was initially issued following an air leak aboard the International Space Station(ISS). That prompted five astronauts to take shelter and prepare to evacuate initially for about two hours on Friday.
There had been a crack in its portion of the orbital laboratory, which Russia was fixing. It sounds like the problem has been resolved as NASA has reversed its decision.
Nasa has now asked the astronauts to return to the International Space Station
It appears a potential crisis has been averted. After nearly two hours of sheltering for an evacuation, the astronauts got new instructions. NASA’s orders changed to them returning to the International Space Station. Three of the astronauts were American, along with one French and a Russian cosmonaut. For months, NASA, along with Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, debated whether to fix the small air leaks in Russia’s Zvezda service module.
A spokesperson for NASA, Bethany Stevens, said in a statement on X that Roscosmos had “paused Friday’s structural repair efforts inside the Zvezda service module transfer tunnel, known as PrK, as more measurements and data are assessed.” Once everything was clear, the astronauts were able to end the safe-haven procedures.
On Friday, Roscosmos told journalists that they’d found air leaks during the pressurization of the Zveda module’s transfer chamber. According to Russian news outlet Tass, one leak site was sealed with “a layer of the two-component sealant Germetal-1.” Roscosmos has been dealing with air leaks in its space compartments for more than five years.
Earlier this month, a chartered space flight for India’s, Poland’s, and Hungary’s first astronauts in decades was delayed over leak concerns. Last month, a man accused the NASA Artemis II crew of faking their space mission. Artemis III is set to launch in 2027.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK FUTURE SPACE MISSIONS MAY BE DELAYED SO THAT THESE ISSUES CAN BE THOROUGHLY CHECKED?
