US Russian officials disagree over International Space Station leak severity
The fear among NASA officials is that an existing air leak in a Russian-controlled section of the ISS could eventually result in a "catastrophic failure."
Both agencies have known about the leak since 2019, but disagree over the risk it poses to the orbiting laboratory, which is divided into separate but connected Russian and American sides.
"On-going cracks and air leaks in the Service Module Transfer Tunnel are a top safety risk; and NASA and Roscosmos are collaborating to investigate and mitigate the cracks and leaks, determine the root cause, and monitor the Station for new leaks," reads a report issued in September by NASA's Office of the Inspector General.
Astronauts typically keep the leaking section of the ISS sealed off from the rest of the space station. The section is used to separate the area where spacecraft dock with the ISS from the rest of the space station.
The report determined the rate of the air leak in the space station's module hit a new high earlier this year.
"In April 2024 NASA identified an increase in the leak rate to its highest level to date. Outside of structural risk mitigation, ISS Program officials expect continuing operations of the Station will require further repairs, and upgrades of key replaceable parts may be more difficult to acquire as suppliers decrease or cease production," the NASA report states.
The disagreement became more public after a meeting earlier this week by the NASA Advisory Committee.
NASA officials believe the leak poses the biggest threat to the International Space Station, while Roscosmos does not share the same level of concern.
"The Russians believe that continued operations are safe - but they can't prove that to our satisfaction," ISS Advisory Committee Chair Bob Cabana told CNN following the panel's meeting this week.
"And the US believes that it's not safe, but we can't prove that to the Russian satisfaction."
Cracks causing the leaks are too small to be visible to the naked eye and often located in areas where utilities connect, making th4em hard to access.
"Although the teams continue to investigate the causal factors for the crack initiation and growth, the U.S. and Russian technical teams don't have a common understanding of what the likely root cause is or the severity of the consequences of these leaks," Cabana told the committee during its meeting this week.
American officials are now pushing to have a team of independent experts on both sides assess the situation and determine a path forward.
Cabana did call a September meeting with Roscosmos officials "very successful."
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