An update (sort of ...) ...
... Five of the seven crew members on the International Space Station were briefly moved to a "safe haven" due to an air leak Friday morning.
NASA directed astronauts to wait inside a docked SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft while Russian cosmonauts work to repair some cracks in a transfer tunnel on the Russian side of the ISS.
The astronauts were allowed to leave the capsule shortly after, as the cosmonauts paused repair work while more data is being assessed.
The aging space station is set to be retired in 2030 and has required more maintenance as time wears on, with crew members performing repair work as part of their missions.
There has been an issue with the cracks in the transfer tunnel causing leaks since 2019, and it is considered a top safety risk.
The Zvezda service model is one of the oldest on the ISS, launched in 1998. The transfer tunnel connects the Zvezda module with a docking port for supplies and Soyuz crew members.
Russian cosmonauts have made attempts to repair the small cracks but have only slowed the leaks, which lose about a couple of pounds of air each day. To manage the leaks, the hatch to the tunnel is kept closed except when a spacecraft docks.
Roscosmos has said the hatch to the service module can be closed if the leak becomes too severe. However, a 2024 report noted NASA and Roscosmos have not come to an agreement on the point at which the leak becomes an untenable threat, and there could be additional complications from closing Zvezda.
Those include the loss of a docking port, which could impact cargo delivery, and the need for additional propellant to maintain the station's position. ...
