A growing leak at the International Space Station has raised fears that astronauts on board will need to evacuate, including the two stranded by Boeing's Starliner.
The seven astronauts were forced to enter the US side of the orbital laboratory due to 50 “areas of concern” and four cracks in a Russian-made module.
If the leaks become serious, the space station could quickly lose oxygen and pressure.
The moment Houston sounds the alarm about a threat, the astronauts would have to race to close the hatch of the leaking section and head to the “lifeboats” docked on the ship.
A spaceflight expert told DailyMail.com that if evacuation were necessary, each crew would escape in their NASA-assigned spacecraft, including the SpaceX Dragon capsule and the Russian Soyuz.
NASA commercial crew program director Steve Stich said that in the event of an emergency, SpaceX's Dragon could power up within minutes.
The capsules feature emergency suits, allowing the crew to quickly put on the proper equipment while fleeing the orbital laboratory, saving more valuable time.
However, the US space agency has admitted that it is not prepared for capsule failures due to a lack of launch-ready vehicles, which could leave the crew stranded with no way home.
NASA has committed to fully utilizing and safely operating the space station through 2030, with plans to retire the ISS some time afterward.
NASA has a plan for an emergency evacuation from the ISS and it could be used amid cracks and leaks in the ship. The seven astronauts remain on the US side due to a leak in the Russian module
Independent space flight safety expert Laura Forczyk told DailyMail.com: “If the leaks at the ISS worsen significantly to the point where NASA and Russia conclude that the situation is not safe, it may mean dismantling the ISS. ISS sooner than expected.”
The main leak was identified in a service module transfer tunnel at Russia's Zvezda module that provides station housing, major support systems, electrical power distribution and data processing, flight management and propulsion systems.
The American astronauts who arrived at the ISS in the SpaceX capsule are prepared to escape in their spacecraft if necessary.
But the evacuation plan for Don Pettit, a NASA astronaut who flew to the ISS aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft with two Russian astronauts in September, is a little more complicated.
In case of emergency, I would not return to Earth on Soyuz. Instead, he would have to climb inside the SpaceX capsule, which was recently equipped with an extra seat in case Pettit needed it, NASA spokesperson Jimi Russell told DailyMail.com.
It is unclear why Pettit would not return on the Russian ship, but some have suggested the exchange would be due to rising tensions between Russia and the United States.
NASA currently has no official evacuation plan for American astronauts assigned to Russian spacecraft. But the agency has awarded a $266,000 contract for SpaceX to build one.
In the event that leaks, cracks and other problems render the entire ISS uninhabitable, astronaut crews would follow protocol to take shelter in their respective spacecraft.
This is not the first time the ISS has suffered a leak. In 2018, astronauts rushed to repair a hole (pictured) that had appeared in the outer wall of the Soyuz capsule at the orbiting laboratory.
ESA astronaut Tim Peake took this photo from inside the dome in 2016, showing a 7mm diameter round chip torn off by the impact of a small piece of space debris.
Each crew capsule is assigned an in-vehicle shelter plan that will protect astronauts from threats aboard the ISS and allow them to flee the space station if necessary, according to a September report from the Office of the Basic Inspector. (OIG) of NASA.
“It was designed with these types of contingencies in mind,” Stich said previously.
They also contain astronaut suits so that crews can dress quickly and comfortably in an emergency situation.
According to NASA, it can take up to 30 minutes to get into a spacesuit.
Streamlining this process as much as possible would be essential in an emergency situation.
These vehicles would be the astronauts' only hope of escape. If something happened to them, it would be a different story.
“Due to high costs and limited budget, the lack of launch-ready vehicles prevents the Agency from having an immediate response capability if crew vehicles sustain significant damage and are no longer safe for crew evacuation.” , the report states.
The Russian Zvezda module was launched in 2000 and “served as the cornerstone for the first human occupation of the station,” NASA said. But like the rest of the ISS, this module is aging and requires maintenance to continue functioning.
The leak has been ongoing since 2019, when air began escaping from the module's transfer tunnel, a vestibule that separates the Russian docking port from the rest of the module.
There was no immediate danger, but it was eventually located and has been patched several times over the past five years.
The Zvezda module is used to access a Russian loading dock. Because of the growing leak, the Russian space agency agreed to keep the module sealed except when necessary.
In 2021, a new leak was identified, also in the Russian Zvezda module, which was considered a “finta serious problem.”
If the leak worsens, NASA and Roscosmos could be forced to permanently close the hatch to the affected tunnel.
And if the leaks worsened to the point where the habitability of the entire space station was affected, the astronauts would be forced to isolate themselves inside their spacecraft and potentially return to Earth.
Former NASA astronaut Invoice Shepherd, who served as the first commander of the ISS from October 2000 to March 2001, told a House committee at the time that NASA and Russian engineers “don't exactly understand why “What are the cracks appearing now?”
Shepherd reiterated claims by Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, that it was “becoming a serious problem.”
Even though NASA has repeatedly repaired the main leak, the amount of air escaping the station has only increased over the past five years.
NASA is now tracking 50 'areas of concern' related to a leak in the Russian Zvezda service module transfer tunnel (labeled) that generated a leak in 2019.
The Canadarm2 robotic arm was hit by space debris in May 2021, creating a hole that fortunately did not affect the functionality of the robotic arm.
It was the focus of the OIG's September report, which found leakage reached record rates in April: losing 3.7 pounds of air each day.
The OIG has raised the threat rating to five out of five in NASA's internal risk assessments.
But this leak is just the tip of the iceberg. NASA officials told the Washington Post that they are tracking four more cracks and 50 “areas of concern” on the ISS.
Speaking to the Washington Post, NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free said: “We have conveyed the seriousness of the leaks several times, including when I was in Russia earlier this year.”
Roscosmos has “covered all cracks with a combination of sealant and patches” and further repairs are underway.
But they are still a cause for concern, especially because the leaks are located near a hatch. NASA and Roscosmos will only open the hatch when absolutely necessary and will keep it sealed at night.
The aging ISS has remained in orbit for 10 years longer than NASA originally planned.
The OIG identified 588 spare parts that were operating beyond their useful life, according to the September report.
To make matters worse, the OIG is monitoring other risks that could endanger the ISS, including possible collisions with micrometeorites and space debris.
NASA currently plans to decommission the ISS by 2031 and has commissioned SpaceX to build a Dragon-type spacecraft that could take the station out of orbit.
But there's a chance this recent scourge of technical problems could shorten that timeline, according to spaceflight safety expert Laura Forczyk.
Although he said that worsening geopolitical relations between the United States and Russia is the biggest risk número for the ISS decommissioning schedule.
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