Cosmonauts STILL looking for damn ISS leak, Russian media report

The leak was first detected in September 2019.

Continuous search

According to the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, cosmonauts are still trying to identify the origin of a leak causing air leakage from the Russian segment of the International Space Station.

The small air leak was first detected in September 2019. A little over a year later, astronauts were able to pinpoint the location of the leak, a process that involved floating loose tea. around the Russian segment of the station.

In March of this year, cosmonauts used adhesives to seal two separate cracks, each not even a millimeter wide each.

But the orbital outpost continues to show its age. Despite the fixes, according to AIRAccording to the latest report from, the Russian segment is still losing air, albeit at an extremely low rate that does not appear to put any of the station’s crew at risk.

Always leak

Cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrovnik recently spent time investigating the Russian segment’s transfer chamber looking for other cracks – but couldn’t find any using an airflow detector, according to AIR.

NASA did not immediately respond to questions about AIRreports.

Experts say the cracks were likely the cause of either metal fatigue or micrometeorites impacting the outside of the station.

While crews were forced to spend a weekend in the Russian segment of the station in August with all space station hatches closed for air pressure monitoring, NASA and Roscosmos maintain that members of the The crew were never faced with any danger due to the leak.

Given the station’s considerable age – crews have occupied the outpost for over 20 years – astronauts will likely face other challenges in the future.

READ MORE: ISS crew resumes search for air leak sites in Russian module [RIA Novosti]

More on the leak: New leak could force Russia to ship oxygen to space station

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