NASA: The leak in the Zvezda module on ISS has apparently been sealed
According to one NASA official, the leaks in the Zvezda module on ISS that have been on-going for more than five years have apparently all been sealed.
However, recently two sources indicated that the leaks have stopped. And NASA has now confirmed this. “Following additional inspections and sealing activities, the pressure in the transfer tunnel attached to the Zvezda Service Module of the International Space Station, known as the PrK, is holding steady in a stable configuration,” a space agency spokesman, Josh Finch, told Ars. “NASA and Roscosmos continue to monitor and investigate the previously observed cracks for any future changes that may occur.”
While good news, no one should feel sanguine. The leaks occurred because the hull of Zvezda has developed stress fractures, due to age (more than a quarter century in orbit) and the repeated dockings to its aft port. Future fractures and leaks are still possible, with the chance of a catastrophic failure very possible.
It would be prudent for NASA to continue to shut the hatch between the U.S. and Russian halves of the station, whenever a docking is taking place.
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 or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. 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
According to one NASA official, the leaks in the Zvezda module on ISS that have been on-going for more than five years have apparently all been sealed.
However, recently two sources indicated that the leaks have stopped. And NASA has now confirmed this. “Following additional inspections and sealing activities, the pressure in the transfer tunnel attached to the Zvezda Service Module of the International Space Station, known as the PrK, is holding steady in a stable configuration,” a space agency spokesman, Josh Finch, told Ars. “NASA and Roscosmos continue to monitor and investigate the previously observed cracks for any future changes that may occur.”
While good news, no one should feel sanguine. The leaks occurred because the hull of Zvezda has developed stress fractures, due to age (more than a quarter century in orbit) and the repeated dockings to its aft port. Future fractures and leaks are still possible, with the chance of a catastrophic failure very possible.
It would be prudent for NASA to continue to shut the hatch between the U.S. and Russian halves of the station, whenever a docking is taking place.
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 or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. 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
I think it just buys NASA and its ISS partners some breathing space.
But even this reminds us all that ISS has a looming expiration date. It must be one of Jared Isaacman’s top priorities to fast-track NASA’s Commercial LEO Destinations awards this year, to get commercial space stations into fabrication.
“Then the Russian cosmonauts would apply a sealant known as Germetall-1 (which has now been patented) to the cracks. ”
They sprayed on Flexx Seal.
https://media.tenor.com/G6fAWjsIV8UAAAAM/flex-tape.gif
No one talks about it much, but the problem was exacerbated by having to support thruster firing loads for station-raising. In more-recent times, work has been done to use Dragon to perform elevation changes, shifting the loads away from Zvezda.
Also didn’t help that the station went through a hairy ride with the Nauka docking back in 2021. Leaks have been reported for almost a decade now, but the loads issue is what’s causing it to be a dynamic situation.
Lots of lessons to be learned here in the long-term life management of an orbital station. One of which is stress loading safety factors. There’s always a tension between safety design (beefy) and aerospace design (lightweight).
Make it light, and hope you do nothing stupid, or . .
Make it stout, trading beef for payload.
Starship might just fix that equation for the better. After all, exactly zero astronauts were ever grateful that their craft was light weight!
So now we know that applying a certain amount of Gorilla Snot[pat. pending] will get the upper hand on extant cracks and going easy on the stressed parts might be staving off fresh cracking. Whatever it takes to get this orbital junkpile across the finish line I guess. Meanwhile, yes, Jared should be putting the spurs to the process that will get us one or more actual replacements by 2030 – preferably sooner.
It may be that a number of common DIY fixes will work just fine in space. Duct tape: already proven, as it will be anywhere Humans go. This sounds like something that wouldn’t be that hard to test: buy some sealants from the home improvement store, load them in pressurized cartridges, afix a test sample, load the whole thing on a smallsat, and have at it. I would be slightly amazed if the Russian’s haven’t done something similar.
All good knowledge and experience…fortunately didn’t have to be bought with lives. Hope it stays that way. There are some things you lean by doing.
The Russians keep talking about taking back modules.
Let the private one take their place and keep the bloody truss.
You have to give Russians this–they were a bit more willing to take chances.
These spray on or brush on sealers should be common for space use.
The only real problem is the out gassing. This would stress the environmental system.
But they should have been tested long before now. Air cleaning systems should have been tested long before now.