Astronauts report cracks aboard the space station

408 kilometers above our heads International Space Station (ISS) has a serious problem. The chief engineer of Russia’s Energia, Vladimir Solovyov, told Reuters news agency that cracks were found on board the Zarya vehicle. The latter is the first structure sent into space as part of Building the International Space Station, in 1998.

What are the dangers of the space station?

While the works are different maintenance realized On board the International Space Station in order to amplify the hope of lifeStation equipment is obsolete. Cracks exposed by ISS residents could expand and cause safety concerns for residents astronauts on board. Solovyov did not say whether an air leak had been found. ” This result is very poor and portends a possible expansion of the cracks over time. “, he added.

During the previous month, the station had already encountered two serious cases during Docking unit Nauka of the structure, causing the International Space Station to rotate due to failure. The Russian space agency Roscosmos has detected a decrease in the number of aircraft the pressure In the star unitdue to possible air leakage.

No announcement has been made regarding Precision From this problem, that can become a concern. The space station is officially expected to be operational until 2024, but many organizations such asThis is amazingOr NASA or Roscosmos announced their intention to extend their presence on the International Space Station.

Where did the air leak detected on the space station come from?

In September 2019, an air leak inside the space station was measured without the various crews that have since succeeded in locating its source. However, the wastage rate is too low to endanger them! Last weekend, astronauts were booked a second time into a unit to try to locate it. Almost found!

Article by Remy DecorPosted on September 30, 2020

For more than a year, air leaked on board International Space Station Earth-watchers worry who, despite the help of the astronauts on board, still haven’t been able to pinpoint where it came from! This air leak, which has been under investigation for several weeks, poses no immediate danger to the crew. The rate of air loss is not high enough to worry NASA and does not pose any health risk to the astronauts on board. complex orbit.

In September 2020, . was released Speed Air leakage increased 2.5 times up to 1.4 Kg within 24 hours! A situation unprecedented since September 2019 forced ground officials at NASA and Roscosmos once again to confine the crew to the Russian Zvezda module to search for the location from which the leak would come, just as in August 2020. For this, finally, the airlocks between all orbital complex units were closed So that mission observers can once again observe Atmospheric pressure in each unit.

Has the leak been located in the Zvezda unit?

On Monday evening, NASA woke up the crew to pinpoint the exact location of the air leak. From the ground, analysis of the data of the units tested overnight isolated the leak site in the main working area of ​​the Zvezda service unit. As explained by NASA, the crew closed the hatches one by one between the rear and front sections of the Zvezda and the Zvezda runways to the Pirs and Poisk modules, while using the ultrasonic leak detector.

Pressure measurements were taken overnight to try to isolate the source of this loss. Unfortunately, the magnitude of the leak identified during the night was attributable to a temporary change in temperature on board the station, with the overall rate of leakage remaining unchanged.

Therefore, studies are underway to try to pinpoint the exact source of the leak. This difficulty in finding such minimal air leakage can be explained by station aging and malfunctionSeal that would have formed over the years. Zarya, the first unit of the ISS was launched in November 1998 by A launcher proton!