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!
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
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!
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
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!