Four Anti-Disaster Fixes That Saved Astronaut Lives On International Space Station

The International Space Station (ISS) has had a hard few years owing to its age. From leakage-causing cracks to space junk, the space station has had quite the journey in its 23-year-long run.?

Astronauts and scientists aboard the station as well as on the ground have been compelled to find quick fixes with resources available at hand to mitigate life-threatening disasters for the space explorers.

Here's a list of the times space junkies were forced to employ quick fixes to prevent catastrophe in space

1. Life-saving space teabag

In 2020, an air leak was spotted in the International Space Station. What did an astronaut do? They used a tea bag to prevent danger. The ISS always leaks some amount of air, but on-station leaks pose a danger to the lives of astronauts.

Numerous reports claimed that Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin was the one to fix the crack with... a tea bag! Perhaps we all should start appreciating the power of tea and quick fixes, even on a sophisticated carriage like the ISS.

NASA

The space station isn't built to be airtight. The pressurised modules of ISS are always leaking air, roughly a kilogram of air each day. But between the tumultuous period (between 2019-2020). The leak was found in? the Zvezda module of the ISS, which was launched back in 2000. It is also the only connection astronauts have to the Soyuz module, which is the only out of the ISS in case of an emergency.

Ivanishin? simply let a few tea leaves out and watched them settle onto a tiny scratch on a wall, which turned out to be a leaking hole. And lives were saved!

2. Space debris

Earth has thousands of satellites locked in its orbit, many of which are no longer even operational.?These are starting to pose larger threat to not only the International Space Station, but to other satellites in space. A small collision in space could also be deadly.

NASA

Currently, the US is tracking 27,000 pieces of space debris, according to NASA. The problem is that most of this debris constitutes small pieces that are unreadable from Earth but pose a danger to astronauts aboard the ISS.

This space trash moves at fast speeds, touching 25,200 kilometres per hour in low Earth orbit.?Due to this, astronauts aboard the ISS have conducted 29 debris avoidance maneuvers since 1999, including three which were undertaken in 2020.

3. The loss of balance

In August, the International Space Station moved a bit off course in its orbit around Earth. This triggered panic after hardware built by NASA was unable to hold the giant station in its place.

With help from Russia's Roscosmos, the situation was handled. Moscow's mission control commanded one of its modules to kick start its engines. At the same time, a cargo ship was made to do the same.

At this time, astronauts worked on configurations on-board. Soon, it was bought back into the right course of orbit.

The disbalance was caused by a Russian module (Nauka) which had just docked to the ISS and started firing its thrusters due to a software glitch.

Quick thinking on the part of Russian ground force helped avert a catastrophe.

NASA

4. Space poop helps nobody

Space has no gravity, making the activity of pooping a rather dangerous ordeal. Little pieces of excreta could float out of the toilet anytime, which would pose dangers to the health of astronauts as well to machine.

A new toilet was designed in 2018 to make relieving oneself aboard the ISS easier, costing NASA a whopping $23 million. It has two separate components for peeing and pooping, making the process peculiarly easier for women.
One of the earliest men in space, Alan Shepard was in quite a fix when he wanted to pee before taking off in 1961. The trip was supposed to be short but suffered delays.

Shepard wanted to pee. What did they do? The man actually peed in his space suit. The first American man in space actually undertook his mission in wet underwear. Albeit a smaller almost-miss, this incident helped engineers realise the need to improve ways for astronauts to relieve themselves in space.

Do you know any other almost-misses that saved lives on the International Space Station? Share with us in the comments below.

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