NASA Ends Space Station Shelter Order Prompted By Air Leaks In Russian Section

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NASA ended safe haven procedures aboard the International Space Sation (ISS) after its Russian counterpart halted repair work amid air leaks, an official said Friday.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) previously ordered the agency’s four SpaceX Crew-12 members, along with astronaut Chris Williams, “to assume an elevated safety posture in the Dragon spacecraft” during the repair work by Roscomos, agency spokeswoman Bethany Stevens posted Friday to X. She later announced that the astronauts were directed to return to their planned operations. NASA’s Crew-12 mission is made up of two American astronauts, one French astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut, according to Reuters.

NASA and Roscosmos, the main operators of the ISS, have argued for months about what is causing the leak in the Zvezda service module and how to repair it, the outlet reported. The Russian space agency said Friday that experts discovered two leaks on the station but said those aboard were not in danger. The first leak was dealt with swiftly andwork was underway on the second one, according to Roscomos. (RELATED: Artemis Crew Returns To Earth After Successful Mission)

Stevens laid out the timeline in her first post on X. “The Zvezda service module transfer tunnel, known as PrK, has suffered from cracks and leaks for some time, and has been mitigated by Roscosmos as much as possible to date,” she said. Stevens added that Roscosmos chose to carry out a wider repair effort Friday and that NASA issued the order to the astronauts as a precaution.

Stevens later wrote that Roscomos paused the repair work for assessment of measurements and data.

NASA declared the PrK module had attained a “stable configuration” in January after repeated inspections and sealant work, only for the issue to be detected again in May, Ars Technica reported. Roscosmos flagged a slow pressure drop May 1 after cosmonauts emptied the Progress 95 cargo ship, according to the outlet. NASA spokesperson Josh Finch said the loss measured about one pound a day. Finch said the tunnel is held at reduced pressure and topped off when needed, with no effect on station operations.