NASA on high alert as ISS starts to leak - but Russia disagrees on the source

NASA are concerned for the safety of space crew after air has been escaping via a leak in Russian section of the .

The leak was first discovered in 2019, letting pressure and air escape, but the situation has worsened rapidly recently. and , its Russian counterpart, are in disagreement over the cause of the leak and its severity.

The leak was first spotted in the tunnel that connects a docking port to the Russian Zvezda module. Nasa said in a statement the cracks are “very small, not visible with the naked eye and have brackets and pipelines near them, making it difficult to get diagnostic tools into these areas.”

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While believe operation is still safe, the US disagree. Earlier this year the leak was elevated to the highest level of risk by NASA as the rate of air escaping reached an all-time high - doubling from one pound of air per day to a little over two pounds.

Bob Cabana, a former NASA astronaut who now chairs the ISS Advisory Committee, said on Wednesday: “While the Russian team continues to search for and seal the leaks, it does not believe catastrophic disintegration of the PrK is realistic. NASA has expressed concerns about the structural integrity of the PrK and the possibility of a catastrophic failure. The Russians believe that continued operations are safe but they can’t prove to our satisfaction that they are, and the U.S. believes that it’s not safe but we can’t prove to the Russians’ satisfaction that that’s the case.”

Nasa believe the leak was caused by pressure, mechanical stress, residual stress, environmental exposure and the module’s material characteristics. But Russian teams believe high cyclic fatigue from micro vibrations is to blame.

NASA’s Office of Inspector General addressed the leak and its true severity in a recent report. SpaceNews reports: “Although the teams continue to investigate the causal factors for the crack initiation and growth, the U.S. and Russian technical teams don’t have a common understanding of what the likely root cause is or the severity of the consequences of these leaks.”

The report added Roscosmos “is confident they will be able to monitor and close the hatch to the Service Module prior to the leak rate reaching an untenable level.” The week before the February 14 launch of the Progress MS-26 cargo spacecraft it was noted that the rate of air leaking from the hole had increased.

The hatch that connects the Russian module to the International Space Station was open for five days as the crew offloaded cargo, but was closed shut afterwards. NASA and Roscosmos are currently monitoring the leak and are prepared to permanently shut off the hatch should the leak rate became dangerous.

Normal operation would resume on the ISS but there would be one less docking port for spacecraft delivering cargo. While the potential risk continues to be discussed, it appears the space station is nearing it's final years.