International Space Station is working to seal up the crack

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

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The crew of the International Space Station is working to seal up the crack in the drainage tube of a porthole through which air escapes into space, causing a decrease in the atmospheric pressure inside the station. A source in the NASA Moscow office told Itar-Tass on Monday, Michael Foale and Alexander Kaleri spotted the crack in the isolation partition of the drainage device that equalizes pressure inside the porthole to prevent its fogging.” Earlier NASA repeatedly supposed that the leak must be detected in the Russian segment of the station. To find the leak, the crew tested the air tightness of one ISS module after another, a source in the Mission Control Center located just outside of Moscow told Itar-Tass. “A steady air temperature level was established inside the station to make it easier for the crew to detect the air-leak place,” the MCC source said. The NASA official told Itar-Tass, “Foale and Kaleri are trying to seal the crack with the help of materials at hand.” If their efforts fail, the next Russian Progress ferry spaceship will bring a new tube to the ISS at the end of this month. The NASA and MCC sources stressed that no threat exists to the crew life and health. At present the atmospheric pressure inside the station is stable at 730 millimeters of mercury.

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