More leaks found in Russian Zvezda module on ISS
Earlier this week Russian astronauts located and patched three more leaks in the 20+ year old Russian Zvezda module on ISS.
Prior to this week’s discovery, the recent patching done by Russian astronauts had reduced the air loss by about half. They need to do another seal test of Zvezda to see if these newer patches have reduced it further.
The report at the link from Russia is as usual very vague. No photos of any of the leaks have been released, by either Russia or NASA. No cause either has been described. This lack of information suggests that the leaks represent a more systemic problem, possibly related to stress fractures from age and wear. If so, it also suggests that Zvezda is nearing its pull-date. How this central module will be replaced from the station remains a major mystery.
Above all, this puts some urgency to the launch of newer modules, such as those being built by the private company Axiom.
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Earlier this week Russian astronauts located and patched three more leaks in the 20+ year old Russian Zvezda module on ISS.
Prior to this week’s discovery, the recent patching done by Russian astronauts had reduced the air loss by about half. They need to do another seal test of Zvezda to see if these newer patches have reduced it further.
The report at the link from Russia is as usual very vague. No photos of any of the leaks have been released, by either Russia or NASA. No cause either has been described. This lack of information suggests that the leaks represent a more systemic problem, possibly related to stress fractures from age and wear. If so, it also suggests that Zvezda is nearing its pull-date. How this central module will be replaced from the station remains a major mystery.
Above all, this puts some urgency to the launch of newer modules, such as those being built by the private company Axiom.
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.
Your support is even more essential to me because I keep this site free from advertisements and do not participate in corrupt social media companies like Google, Twitter, and Facebook. I depend wholly on the direct support of my readers.
You can provide that support to 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
Photos of the cracks have been leaked, but as far as I can tell, not officially released anywhere. The only ones I’ve seen are reposts in a non-public area, so I can’t share, but they certainly look like stress fractures to me.
David,
Since you cannot share the photos, can you please tell us if all the cracks are or around the aft docking port?
The pictures I saw were the result of very close up microscopic shots, if there was any indication of where in the module they were taken, it was in Cyrillic, which I don’t read.
David Eastman: All public statements so far have strongly suggested (but not confirmed) the cracks were in the aft section of Zvezda, where the docking port is.
What is the history of the (re)boosting. I know the Zvezda module initially was used as it has a propulsive system but I remember reading that (re)boosting was being done by visiting craft. Were these (re)boosts done through the suspected aft section docking port?
I’m sure NASA will get nothing but obfuscation from the Russians so they won’t try too hard to get to the bottom of this. Maybe Congress can make some useful noise for once.
pawn: From what I understand, Zvezda has engines and has been used routinely to raise ISS’s orbit. And yes, those engines are in the aft section, surrounding the docking port.
As for the Russians hiding things, they might be hiding things from the public, but I am certain they are not hiding things from NASA, which has people on board ISS and will demand to know what’s what. NASA however is a government agency, like Roscosmos, and is thus prone to the same secrecy. In fact, I am sure NASA and Roscosmos are working together to keep this whole story out of the press.
As for Congress, don’t make me laugh.
Russia has a Space Shuttle they stole it from us
Pawn: You are correct. The reboost engines are in the aft section of the Service Module. They are used whenever a Progress vehicle is not docked to that port. However, when a Progress vehicle is docked to that port, they use the Progress engines instead. This is because 1) The Progress is blocking the Service Module’s engines, and 2) It saves cycles on the Service Module’s engines, extending their on-orbit life.
This is becoming alarming: I do hope this lingering, slow motion problem doesn’t ease us into catastrophe.