ISS crew briefly shelters as agencies assess Russian module leaks

NASA briefly moved five astronauts on the International Space Station into a docked SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on Friday after new concerns emerged over air leaks in a Russian section of the orbiting laboratory.

The agency said it directed the crew members to take shelter in the Crew Dragon Freedom capsule, a procedure known as a “safe haven,” out of an abundance of caution while Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, prepared to address cracks in a transfer tunnel in the Zvezda service module. The capsule can be used for transport and, if necessary, departure from the station.

NASA later ended the precautionary posture after Roscosmos paused repair work and decided instead to take measurements and assess data. The crew members then returned to normal operations aboard the station.

“We look forward to working with Roscosmos on a collaborative approach to address the leaks,” NASA said in a statement.

The issue involves cracks in a tunnel in the Russian segment of the station that have been associated with a small air leak for roughly six years, according to CBS News. NASA has described the leak as a top safety risk and said the cracks have been the subject of multiple repair attempts over the years.

“The cracks have always been a concern that NASA watches very closely,” the agency said.

NASA spokesperson Bethany Stevens said in a post on X that the Zvezda service module tunnel has suffered “from cracks and leaks for some time.” She said NASA has monitored the situation while Roscosmos has taken previous mitigation steps.

“Following new leaks, Roscosmos has elected to proceed with a more extensive repair operation on Friday, June 5,” Stevens said before the work was paused.

She said NASA had directed the four members of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission, along with NASA astronaut Chris Williams, “to assume an elevated safety posture in the Dragon spacecraft while the repair is underway.” Crew-12 includes two U.S. astronauts, a French astronaut and a Russian astronaut, according to Al Jazeera.

After Roscosmos paused the planned repairs, Stevens said NASA instructed the crew members inside the Dragon to end safe haven procedures and return to planned work on the station.

Roscosmos said Friday that it had detected two leaks aboard the ISS. It said one leak had been sealed and experts were working to seal the second. The Russian agency said there was no threat to the station’s systems or to the people on board, according to Al Jazeera.

NASA said the latest concern followed a slow pressure drop in the transfer tunnel that Roscosmos observed last month after the arrival of a Russian cargo ship. The U.S. agency said it and Roscosmos have been trying to determine the cause of the cracks while the Russian side addresses the problem through “operational mitigation measures and periodic partial-repair efforts.”

“We continue to work with our Russian counterparts, along with the rest of the international community that supports the space station, to arrive at a more permanent resolution,” NASA said.

Seven astronauts were living and working on the space station as of Friday. The ISS, launched in 1998, is run by five international space agencies, including those of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada. Its daily operations are coordinated by NASA and Roscosmos.