After A Year Of Searching, Astronauts Finally Find Air Leak Spot On Space Station

Nearly a year ago, NASA reported that there was a leak on the International Space Station. They carried out multiple investigations to look for the leak, but couldn¡¯t really find out where it was coming from.

However, today the leak has been successfully discovered.

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On Monday, NASA¡¯s ground control woke up three members of the ISS crew in the middle of the night as it found the leak intensity to have grown rapidly. They asked the crew instantly to do a search.

In case you remember, last month, everyone on the ISS was asked to stay inside the leaking Russian module while ground control was conducting analysis to find the source of the leak, which eventually turned out to be a failed mission. NASA then said that it could be either the Zvezda or Poisk Mini Research Module which were leaking.

The crew was asked to close down hatches between Zvezda's aft and forward sections, along with Zvezda's passageways to the Pirs Docking Compartment and the Poisk module. At the same time, they were using an ultrasonic leak detector to find the breach and collect the necessary data.

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NASA said, ¡°Throughout the night, pressure measurements were taken to try to isolate the source of the leak. At the completion of the overnight checks, the crew opened hatches once again between the US and Russian segments and resumed regular activities. By Tuesday morning the crew had confirmed the leak was in the main work area of the Zvezda module.¡±

NASA added that they still need to do some additional work to locate the exact leak spot. Luckily the leak hadn¡¯t increased in size, however, the ground control felt its intensity to be greater due to a temporary change in temperature.

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The Zvezda module is a key part of the Russian segment of the ISS as it is responsible to provide oxygen as well as drinking water. It also consists of CO2 scrubbers as well as sleeping and dining areas for Russian astronauts.