November 18, 2020

ISS crew patched up the crack in Russian Zvezda module to stop the air leak, – Roscosmos press office reports.

Earlier in the course of communication session with the crew it was clear that Sergey Ryzhikov patched up the crack with the help of rubber and aluminum foil.

“Russian ISS crew members placed a new patch on the crack in Zvezda module, – the source said. – According to him following the results of check measurements and according to the data received from the crew the leak source will be eliminated.

A minor air leak was detected in September 2019. In August-September 2020 when the leak rate increased 5 times the crew sealed the ISS hatches twice to check its pressurization and stayed isolated in Russian segment for several days.

The leak source was located in the interchamber of Zvezda module. In October Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Wagner found a crack 4,5 sm in size. It was temporarily patched up with  thermal-resistant tape.

Roscmosmos reported that the crack is of no danger neither for the station nor for the crew and ground-based specialists are looking for the solution of this problem.

In November Russian ISS segment flight director stated that probably cargo vehicle to be launched in December would deliver nitrogen to restore the atmosphere aboard the ISS and some means to seal the crack. However the launch of Progress MS-16 cargo vehicle initially planned for December 11 was postponed to February 15,2021 due to necessity of additional testing.

Currently aboard the ISS are working Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, American astronauts Kathleen Rubins, Michael Hopkins and Shannon Walker and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi.

More from this category:
August 28, 2020

The first ever crew of the International Space Station, consisting only of Russian cosmonauts, can fly on the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft in the spring of…

full story
May 21, 2021

On June 2, 2021, the crew of the Russian segment of the International Space Station, Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov will perform a…

full story
June 27, 2024

The GCTC continues to prepare crews for the forthcoming expedition to the ISS. One of its stages is the “Typical Flight Day” test, which shows…

full story
November 1, 2021

The Guiana Space Center (French Guiana) has begun preparations for the Soyuz-ST rocket launch with Galileo spacecraft. In accordance with the schedule of works on…

full story
July 8, 2015

On July 8, 2015, in GCTC Interdepartmental Commission approved next ISS crew to go to the station onboard Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft. The main crew comprises…

full story
August 3, 2018

On August 2, 2018 in the Star City was a meeting ceremony of the 54 / 55th long ISS expedition crew, that includes Roscosmos cosmonaut…

full story
May 5, 2014

Soyuz-2.1a booster with military satellite was rolled out to the launching pad of Plesetsk spaceport on May 4, 2014, – representative of  Russian Ministry of…

full story
August 3, 2015

Roscosmos approved main and back-up crew of Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft to be launched to the ISS from Baikonur in September 2015. The main crew comprises…

full story