Leak hunt continues on ISS
Two stories today indicate that the search for the elusive source of the slow leak on ISS is continuing.
- NASA has narrowed the source of an elusive leak on the space station to 2 Russian modules
- ISS crew to be isolated inside Russian segment again to expose air leak
The problem is that the two stories appear to have no overlap, making it hard to figure out what is planned and why.
The first story describes how engineers, based on the first isolation test, now think the leak must be coming from one of two modules:
…the ones the crew didn’t test because they were inside them while monitoring the rest of the station. One is the Zvezda Service Module, which provides life support for the station’s Russian side. The other is the Poisk Mini-Research Module 2, which serves as a port for docking spaceships and a place where crew members prepare for spacewalks.
The second story, from the Russian press, does not mention this detail. All it says is that the astronauts are going to once again isolate themselves in “the Russian segment” so the rest of the station can be tested for leaks. Since the two modules in question are both in that Russian segment, it is unclear where the astronauts will be isolated, especially since Zvezda is also where the Soyuz descent capsule is docked and if sealed from astronaut access it also seals them from their lifeboat.
It could be that the plan is to do another test of the American side of the station, then do these two Russian modules after the arrival of the next manned Dragon mission in a little less than a month. Dragon can then replace Soyuz as a lifeboat, allowing a test of Zvezda.
Regardless, the leak is a slow one, and is not yet life-threatening. That the leak rate has recently increased however requires action to find and fix it.
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Two stories today indicate that the search for the elusive source of the slow leak on ISS is continuing.
- NASA has narrowed the source of an elusive leak on the space station to 2 Russian modules
- ISS crew to be isolated inside Russian segment again to expose air leak
The problem is that the two stories appear to have no overlap, making it hard to figure out what is planned and why.
The first story describes how engineers, based on the first isolation test, now think the leak must be coming from one of two modules:
…the ones the crew didn’t test because they were inside them while monitoring the rest of the station. One is the Zvezda Service Module, which provides life support for the station’s Russian side. The other is the Poisk Mini-Research Module 2, which serves as a port for docking spaceships and a place where crew members prepare for spacewalks.
The second story, from the Russian press, does not mention this detail. All it says is that the astronauts are going to once again isolate themselves in “the Russian segment” so the rest of the station can be tested for leaks. Since the two modules in question are both in that Russian segment, it is unclear where the astronauts will be isolated, especially since Zvezda is also where the Soyuz descent capsule is docked and if sealed from astronaut access it also seals them from their lifeboat.
It could be that the plan is to do another test of the American side of the station, then do these two Russian modules after the arrival of the next manned Dragon mission in a little less than a month. Dragon can then replace Soyuz as a lifeboat, allowing a test of Zvezda.
Regardless, the leak is a slow one, and is not yet life-threatening. That the leak rate has recently increased however requires action to find and fix it.
The support of my readers through the years has given 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. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
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. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to 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.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five 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:
5. 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. And if you buy the books through the ebookit links, I get a larger cut and I get it sooner.
I know the next Dragon with bring 4 astronauts, but I believe it can accommodate up to 7. Will it / can it be configured with max seats to serve as a lifeboat for the entire crew complement?
Obviously an American astronaut has snuck into the Sov— uh, I mean, Russian—side, and committed sabotage. I mean, obviously. Come on.
If so, he must have somehow gotten by the nannycams the Russkies said they were going to install. So, in addition to being devious, he must also have the ability to become invisible. Oh yes, and to make anything he carries invisible too, else whatever he used to poke the hole with would also show up on the nannycams both coming and going.
The hole has to be like the previous Russian one. Hidden behind something not easily moved.
It could be a hole behind a anything bolted to the hull.
If it was a meteor or impact then internal damage would show up.
Could it be a seal leak between the modules?
You know a simple Vape machine bought at any store could be all they need to find the hole.
Isolate each module and shut down the air system for just long enough to use the vape to find the hole.
Send a couple 20 dollar Vapes up.