Leak on ISS still leaking even after being temporarily sealed with tape
Even though Russian astronauts have now patched with Kapton tape the 1-inch crack where they thought the leak in the Zvezda module on ISS was located, the loss of air has continued, and even increased.
The pressure in the Zvezda module of the International Space Station (ISS) keeps lowering, although the fissure was patched with Kapton tape, and even faster than before the fix, the crew told the ground control on Tuesday, as broadcast by NASA.
They are going to add more tape to the patch and see if this seals the leak.
Meanwhile, there has been little discussion about the nature of this 1-inch crack. Was it caused by a micrometeorite, or is it a stress fracture? And where exactly is it, and does that location help explain it?
Inquiring minds need to know!
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Even though Russian astronauts have now patched with Kapton tape the 1-inch crack where they thought the leak in the Zvezda module on ISS was located, the loss of air has continued, and even increased.
The pressure in the Zvezda module of the International Space Station (ISS) keeps lowering, although the fissure was patched with Kapton tape, and even faster than before the fix, the crew told the ground control on Tuesday, as broadcast by NASA.
They are going to add more tape to the patch and see if this seals the leak.
Meanwhile, there has been little discussion about the nature of this 1-inch crack. Was it caused by a micrometeorite, or is it a stress fracture? And where exactly is it, and does that location help explain it?
Inquiring minds need to know!
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Either its not the only hole in that module or those fancy scientists don’t know how to use tape.
If its a stress fracture then they are in very big trouble. Very big.
They do not stop propagating unless the stress is totally releaved.
Normally if a crack shows up you would stop its spread by drilling a neat clean round hole at either end. Just like with round plane windows the round hole then radiates the stress outward and hopefully spreads it our enough to stop the crack from getting longer.
If the crack is at the junction of a support beam and the outer skin, tape might not be able to seal it since more crack could be running under the support beam.
They can stop the crack for now and seal the hole(s) but unless they find out why its happening the whole thing could just keep cracking.
It could be something like station twist and or uneven expansion from thermal cycling and there is nothing they could do about that.
Inside and outside pictures would be nice.
How the heck does sealing a crack increase the loss rate!? So that crack must not be the source and something they did while getting at it or testing it only made the real crack worse? Or there are multiple leaks and sealing this one put more pressure on the other one and it worsened? Would love to see photos so I could hop in my VR ISS and look at the spot personally, from the inside and outside.
Have they ran out of tea bags for further investigation?
There’s no reason to worry. Please go to sleep, wearing your pressure suite.
I would have used J.B.Weld instead of NASA‘s $600/roll ”duct tape“ (kapton).
Or Flex-Seal. I can see the commercial now… they fly the guy up who does the Flex-Seal commercials, fixes the problem in Zvezda, and makes a new pressurized module with just some chicken wire and five gallons of the stuff. Eat your heart out Bigelow!