NASA Concerned About Air Leak at Space Station

Four of the seven crew members at the station have been ordered to enter the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft docked at the ISS, wearing their space suits.

NASA on Friday instructed astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to enter a safe area and prepare for evacuation, following concerns about an air leak at the station.

NASA spokesperson, Bethany Stevens, wrote on X that the connection passage to the Zvezda Service Module, known as PrK, has been facing cracks and air leaks for some time. She stated that the Russian space agency Roscosmos has been working hard to control the issue, but the cracks had existed prior and were known to NASA.

Four of the seven crew members at the station have been ordered to enter the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft docked at the ISS, wearing their space suits.

Stevens noted that as a precaution, NASA has instructed all four members of the SpaceX Crew-12 team and NASA astronaut Chris Williams to enter a higher security preparation during the maintenance work.

She also mentioned that the Russian agency Roscosmos is scheduled to carry out the maintenance work.

Stevens added that NASA and Roscosmos are working together to determine the root cause of the cracks, with Roscosmos currently managing the situation using technical measures and ongoing patchwork repairs.

She concluded by stating that NASA continues to collaborate with its Russian counterpart and all international partners supporting the ISS to find a sustainable solution to fully resolve this issue.