Space Station’s Air Leak Forces Crew to Relocate to Russian Side

(Bloomberg) -- An air leak in the International Space Station has forced its three-member crew to relocate to the Russian side of the orbiting laboratory while NASA runs tests to determine the source.

The crew and station are in “no immediate danger” as the leak remains within safety specifications, the agency said. All ISS hatches will be closed during the pressure testing to determine which is experiencing the higher-than-normal loss, NASA said.

The station routinely seeps air into space, requiring periodic re-pressurization from nitrogen delivered in resupply trips. Last September, NASA and Russian space officials noticed an increase in the standard leakage rate, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said Thursday in a statement.

“That rate has slightly increased, so the teams are working a plan to isolate, identify, and potentially repair the source,” NASA said, following a published report Thursday by RIA Novosti.

NASA astronaut and station commander Chris Cassidy and cosmonauts Ivan Vagner and Anatoly Ivanishin will remain in the Russian Zvedza service module from Friday night to Sunday morning.

In August 2018, station managers detected a small hole in the Russian side of the ISS, which caused a small pressure loss before it was repaired. The space station has had a continuous crew since November 2000.

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