Several astronauts have discovered a problem with a module of the International Space Station, which has been orbiting the Earth since 1998. Scientists have shown that leaks can grow.
According to a report by a senior space official, small “superficial” cracks were detected on Monday, August 30 in the Zarya module of the International Space Station (ISS), where French astronaut Thomas Pesquet is located.
For Vladimir Solovyov, the main contractor of the Russian manned space flight program, the inconvenience does not bode well: cracks risk “swelling over time.” The engineer did not say whether an air leak had been detected in the Zarya unit.
The space director had already warned in April of the obsolescence of a large part of the International Space Station’s equipment and a possible “collapse” of broken equipment after 2025.
Other problems in July
But this isn’t the first time cracks have been discovered on the International Space Station. The Russian unit Zvezda has on several occasions, especially in 2019 and 2021, experienced air leaks caused by cracks. The astronauts corrected it in October 2020 and March 2021 this year.
Meanwhile, NASA has not yet responded to the announcement: no one knows what will happen to these new holes and how they will be taken care of.
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