SPACED OUT

ISS Astronauts Prepare to Evacuate After Air Leak

The astronauts are seeking refuge aboard a spacecraft in case they need to return to Earth suddenly.

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have been ordered to shelter in a spacecraft and prepare to evacuate because of a worsening air leak on the Russian segment of the orbiting laboratory. NASA confirmed the leak is coming from a tunnel in the Zvezda service module, a section of the station that has suffered from cracks for some time. “The Zvezda service module transfer tunnel, known as PrK, has suffered from cracks and leaks for some time, and has been mitigated by Roscosmos as much as possible to date,” NASA spokeswoman Bethany Stevens said, adding that the cracks “have always been a concern” closely monitored by the agency. While the crew shelters inside SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, a Russian cosmonaut is attempting a repair using a saw to access the damaged area—a riskier-than-usual technique given the crack’s location. NASA has asked astronauts to “assume an elevated safety posture in the Dragon spacecraft” out of “an abundance of caution.” “We continue to work with our Russian counterparts,” NASA said, “to arrive at a more permanent resolution.”