Published 16:43 IST, September 30th 2020
International Space Station experiences another air leak, no harm caused
A small air leak at the International Space Station(ISS) led to an intense middle night search by the three astronauts, Associated Press reported.
A small air leak at the International Space Station (ISS) led to an intense middle night search by the three astronauts, Associated Press reported. The leak was reported late night on September 28 prompting the crew to isolate themselves at the Russian side. Although small, it was the third leak to be detected within a period of one month.
NASA, on September 29, revealed that two Russian astronauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner, and one American astronaut Chris Cassidy were left aghast midnight after they found that there was an air leak on the station. Following the growing leak, the three of them hurriedly sealed hatches between compartments and joined hands to search for the leak.
"No harm or risk to us as the crew, but it is important to find the leak we are not wasting valuable air", Astronaut Chris Cassidy wrote in a Twitter statement.
They found that instead of the leak expanding more, it was by erroneous cabin air pressure reading that caused the temperature change. According to NASA, the leak still remains small and poses no danger. The astronauts would now use leak detectors to try and pinpoint the leak in the living and working compartment called Zvezda.
ISS avoids possible conjunction
Recently, the International Space Station (ISS) conducted a 150-second re-boost to avoid possible conjunction with an unknown piece of space debris. The National Aeronautics Space Agency (NASA) said that the three controllers, one American, and two Russians, worked in tandem to maneuver the space station using ISS Progress 75. The two minute 30 seconds long re-boost was conducted at 5:19 p.m. EDT.
During the avoidance maneuver, the three American 'Expedition 63' crew members were directed to move to the Russian segment of the station to be closer to their Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft in case of an evacuation and as a precautionary measure. The debris was estimated to come within 1.39 kilometers of the station with a time of closest approach of 6:21 p.m. EDT. The avoidance maneuver raised the station's orbit out of the predicted path of the debris. According to Astronomer Jonathan McDowell, the debris belonged to the 2018 Japanese rocket H-2A F40 that broke up into 77 pieces in 2019.
Image credits: ISS/Twitter
Updated 16:43 IST, September 30th 2020