Leak search on ISS narrows further
Further work on ISS by the astronauts has now narrowed the location of the station’s long-term slow leak to the aft area of the Russian Zvezda module.
As of Monday, the station crew had not located the precise site of the leak, but officials believe they have traced it to a transfer compartment at the rear section of the Zvezda module, near an aft docking port where a Russian Progress resupply freighter is attached.
The rate of leak continues to be slow and thus not any danger to the crew. It is also a concern, as it could become a safety issue should it increase. They want to find it and patch it. Furthermore, Zvezda is ISS’s second oldest module, launched in 2000. If this leak is a sign of that age is even more essential to know.
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Further work on ISS by the astronauts has now narrowed the location of the station’s long-term slow leak to the aft area of the Russian Zvezda module.
As of Monday, the station crew had not located the precise site of the leak, but officials believe they have traced it to a transfer compartment at the rear section of the Zvezda module, near an aft docking port where a Russian Progress resupply freighter is attached.
The rate of leak continues to be slow and thus not any danger to the crew. It is also a concern, as it could become a safety issue should it increase. They want to find it and patch it. Furthermore, Zvezda is ISS’s second oldest module, launched in 2000. If this leak is a sign of that age is even more essential to know.
Please consider donating to Behind the Black, by giving either a one-time contribution or a regular subscription, as outlined in the tip jar below. Your support will allow me to continue covering science and culture as I have for the past twenty years, independent and free from any outside influence.
Regular readers can support Behind The Black with a contribution via Patreon or PayPal. To use Patreon, go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation. For PayPal click one of the following buttons:
If Patreon or Paypal don't work for you, you can support Behind The Black directly by sending your donation by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman, to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
I was checking on the age of the modules on the ISS and I did not know that Zvesda was the core to Mir-2! Throw a can of Flex-Seal into the next Progress flight, that will seal it up. I wonder if this will delay the launch of Nauka.
As you said on the JB show, if it is the docking port that is leaking, that’s a more serious problem than a micrometeorite hole. Perhaps the stress of the next docking it will rupture and become a serious leak. Perhaps the next Progress will fail to dock because of damaged larger than what the as of yet tiny leak is a symptom of. That’s worst case scenaria. But changing a docking port is even in the best case scenario a resource consuming project with space walks et cetera.
Anyway, the ISS is not at risk. The astronauts would just seal off that module and a bit more crowded spend more time playing weightless 3D chess with the cosmonauts.