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WG3K > ANS 24.11.24 02:34l 68 Lines 3663 Bytes #51 (0) @ AMSAT
BID : ANS329.6
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Subj: Air Leak on ISS Russian Module Is Getting Worse
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For the past five years, air has been escaping through a Russian section of
the International Space Station (ISS) at an increasing rate. NASA and its
Russian counterpart, Roscosmos, are still in disagreement over the root
cause of the leak, as well as the severity of the consequences.
The leak was first discovered in 2019 in the vestibule (named PrK) that
connects a docking port to the Russian Zvezda module, which Roscosmos had
launched to low Earth orbit in July 2000. Earlier this year, NASA elevated
the leak to the highest level of risk as the rate of air escaping from the
module had doubled from one pound of air per day to a little over two
pounds.
“While the Russian team continues to search for and seal the leaks, it does
not believe catastrophic disintegration of the PrK is realistic,” Bob
Cabana, a former NASA astronaut who now chairs the ISS Advisory Committee,
said during a meeting on Wednesday, SpaceNews reported. “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 canâ€Öt
prove to our satisfaction that they are, and the U.S. believes that itâ€Ös
not safe but we canâ€Öt prove to the Russiansâ€Ö satisfaction that thatâ€Ös the
case,” he added.
Russian teams believe the air leak was likely caused by high cyclic fatigue
from micro vibrations, while teams at NASA think pressure and mechanical
stress, residual stress, material properties of the module, and
environmental exposure are all at play, according to SpaceNews.
*The ISS is set for retirement by 2030. [NASA photo]*
The air leak was addressed in a recent report by NASAâ€Ös Office of Inspector
General (OIG), which highlighted its true severity and the risk it poses to
the crew. The OIG report stated that the two space agencies canâ€Öt seem to
agree on the point at which the leak should be considered unsustainable.
NASA and Roscosmos met to discuss the ISS air leak, with NASA officials
noting that 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,” according to the report.
“Although the teams continue to investigate the causal factors for the
crack initiation and growth, the U.S. and Russian technical teams donâ€Öt
have a common understanding of what the likely root cause is or the
severity of the consequences of these leaks,” Cabana is quoted in SpaceNews
as saying.
The rate of air leaking from the hole increased around a week before the
February 14 launch of the Progress MS-26 cargo spacecraft, which docked to
the aft end of Zvezda. The hatch that connects the module to the ISS
remained open for five days as the crew offloaded the cargo from Progress
MS-26 onto the space station, but was closed shut afterwards.
NASA and Roscosmos are currently monitoring the leak and preparing to close
the hatch to the service module when access is not required in order to
minimize the amount of air lost and isolate the leak itself from the rest
of the space station. If required, the space agencies are prepared to
permanently shut off the hatch should the leak rate became unmanageable.
The ISS would function normally, but there would be one less docking port
for spacecraft delivering cargo to the space station.
As the two space agencies continue to discuss the potential risk, the aging
space station is inching closer to retirement within the next six years and
its hardware may finally be giving in to the wear and tear of the harsh
space environment.
[ANS thanks Gizmodo for the above information.]
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