How was the exact location of the recent ISS air leak found?

An air leak was discovered on the International Space Station on August 29, 2018. The ISS crew attempted to find and seal their origin. Photo credit: NASA

On August 29, 2018, the discovery of an air leak at the International Space Station raised troubling questions as to how the United States is moving from the outpost. However, one question does not seem to have received much attention – how did the astronauts discover the origin of the leak?

The two millimeter wide hole was found on the orbital module of the Soyuz MS-09 probe. Photo credit: NASA

The ISS is a very big spaceship. Measuring approximately 109 meters (240 feet) over 73 meters (240 feet), the station is about the size of a football field. So how can the astronauts aboard the outpost find the source of an air leak, especially a leak as minor as that caused by the Soyuz MS-09 probe at the end of the month? August 2018?

"From what I understood, the ground determined that there was a leak and directed the crew in the right direction," said Nicole Stott, a former astronaut from NASA. SpaceFlight Insider technical consultant.

Keep in mind that the ISS includes a series of interconnected modules from the United States, Russia, Europe, and Japan. In addition, spaceships from different countries can be connected to the station. How did the astronauts look at where this leak came from?

First, according to NASA, the ground-based flight controllers noticed that the cabin pressure was off. However, it is not so serious and it was decided to allow the crew of Expedition 56 to continue their sleep cycle.

Once awake, they were asked to seal various sections of the laboratory in orbit to reduce leakage.

There is nothing particularly complicated about it. The hatches were closed and the astronauts and ground controllers looked to see which side was holding the pressure and what had not.

Soyuz MS-09, on the left, is connected to the Rassvet module. The leak comes from the top of the spacecraft. Photo credit: NASA

"Start by closing the hatches between the segments. [This] lets you know which segment [is] fleeing (Russian or American), "said NASA astronaut Clay Anderson SpaceFlight Insider.

Anderson, who lived five months aboard the outpost in 2007, said that once the leak was detected in the Russian segment, these hatches were methodically closed and the pressure on each side checked. He said that whenever a module or area was closed, the astronauts had to make sure that their Soyuz (which is their path to Earth) was on the hatch side so that they do not accidentally isolate themselves in case of a problem. .

Astronauts would continue to "reduce the size of the station" with trap closures until the Soyuz is isolated as it flees, Anderson said.

After the astronauts determined which module the leak came from, in this case the upper part of the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft, they used a device called ultrasonic leak detector (ULD) to precisely locate the Soyuz spacecraft that was leaking into the atmosphere.

An example of ULD used on the international space station. This video is not dated August 29, 2018.

Video courtesy of Measuretronix

Tagged: Stories of NASA Roscosmos International Space Station Soyuz MS-09

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Jason Rhian

Jason Rhian spent several years honing his skills with internships at NASA, the National Space Society and other organizations. He has provided content for sales outlets such as: Aviation Week & Space Technology, Space.com, The Mars Society and Universe Today.