An International Space Station Leak Is Getting Worse—and Keeping NASA Up at Night

US abstraction officials bash not similar to speech astir the perils of flying astronauts connected the aging International Space Station, elements of which are present much than a 4th of a period old.

However, a caller study confirms that NASA managers liable for operating the abstraction presumption are earnestly acrophobic astir a tiny Russian portion of the station, fundamentally a passageway that connects a larger module to a docking port, which is leaking.

Russian and US officials person known that this tiny PrK module, which lies betwixt a Progress spacecraft airlock and the Zvezda module, has been leaking since September 2019. A caller report, published Thursday by NASA's inspector general, provides details not antecedently released by the abstraction bureau that underline the severity of the problem.

New Details About the Leak

For example, successful February of this twelvemonth NASA identified an summation successful the leak complaint from little than 1 lb of ambiance a time to 2.4 pounds a day, and successful April this complaint accrued to 3.7 pounds a day. Despite years of investigation, neither Russian nor US officials person identified the underlying origin of the leak.

"Although the basal origin of the leak remains unknown, some agencies person narrowed their absorption to interior and outer welds," the report, signed by Deputy Inspector General George A. Scott, states.

The program to mitigate the hazard is to support the hatch connected the Zvezda module starring to the PrK passageway closed. Eventually, if the leak worsens further, this hatch mightiness request to beryllium closed permanently, reducing the fig of Russian docking ports connected the abstraction presumption from 4 to three.

Publicly, NASA has sought to minimize concerns astir the cracking contented due to the fact that it remains, to date, confined to the PrK passageway and has not dispersed to different parts of the station. Nevertheless, Ars reported successful June that the cracking contented has reached the highest level of interest connected the abstraction agency's 5x5 "risk matrix" to classify the likelihood and effect of risks to spaceflight activities. The Russian leaks are present classified arsenic a "5" some successful presumption of precocious likelihood and precocious consequence.

At the time, NASA would not remark on, oregon confirm, the abstraction agency's concerns astir the hazard matrix rating. However, the caller study confirms the agency's concerns.

"In May and June 2024, ISS Program and Roscosmos officials met to sermon heightened concerns with the accrued leak rate," the inspector general's study states. "The ISS Program subsequently elevated the Service Module Transfer Tunnel leak hazard to the highest level of hazard successful its hazard absorption system. According to NASA, Roscosmos is assured they volition beryllium capable to show and adjacent the hatch to the Service Module anterior to the leak complaint reaching an untenable level. However, NASA and Roscosmos person not reached an statement connected the constituent astatine which the leak complaint is untenable."

An Uncertain Future successful Low Earth Orbit

The study comes arsenic NASA is considering the aboriginal of the abstraction station. The US abstraction bureau and Russia person an statement to proceed flying the presumption done 2028, and NASA would similar to widen operations to 2030. NASA had anticipated that it would hold to this hold much than a twelvemonth ago, but arsenic of yet nary statement has been finalized.

Once the presumption reaches the extremity of its life, NASA intends to modulation its activities successful debased Earth orbit onto backstage abstraction stations, and it has funded archetypal improvement enactment by Axiom Space, Northrop Grumman, Blue Origin, and Voyager Space. Northrop has since dropped retired of the competition—determining that it would not beryllium a profitable business. There is wide uncertainty arsenic to whether immoderate of the backstage abstraction presumption operators volition beryllium acceptable successful 2030.

NASA's different imaginable enactment is extending the beingness of the abstraction presumption beyond 2030, but this would necessitate a batch of enactment to guarantee the abstraction station's operation remains viable and yet different hold statement with Russia. The US concern with that federation has been severely strained by Russia's penetration of Ukraine.

"Extending the ISS past 2030 volition necessitate important backing to run and support the station, acceptance of accrued hazard stemming from its components and aging structures, and assurances of continued enactment from NASA’s planetary partners," the caller study states. “Further complicating matters is the likelihood that NASA whitethorn proceed to look a level oregon reduced budget, inflation, and proviso concatenation challenges.”

This communicative primitively appeared on Ars Technica.