Astronauts currently on the International Space Station have been ordered to take shelter and prepare for evacuation this Friday, June 5, as an air leak worsens in the station. After about an hour, NASA announced that the team could return to the interior of the International Space Station.
Astronauts currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS) have been ordered to take shelter and prepare for a potential evacuation this Friday, June 5, as an air leak worsens in the station, NASA said, cited by Reuters.
A Russian crew aboard the station was trying to repair the leak, located in the Russian part of the orbiting laboratory, NASA said. Frenchwoman Sophie Adenot is one of the astronauts on board the station.
About an hour after this announcement, a NASA spokesperson told AFP that the astronauts will be able to return to the interior of the International Space Station (ISS) after having temporarily left it.
“The crew is now preparing to leave the Dragon ship”, attached to the ISS in which they had taken temporary refuge, said this spokesperson.
Cracks and leaks in a station tunnel
Around 3 p.m. (Paris time), the astronauts were ordered to go to their Crew Dragon spacecraft, docked at the station, and put on their spacesuits to prepare for a possible emergency evacuation, according to Reuters citing NASA.
In a press release published on [l’agence spatiale russe, NDLR] has so far been limited as much as possible.
These leaks, the cause of which has not been determined, are “partially repaired by Roscosmos on a regular basis”, continues the US spokesperson. “Following new leaks, Roscosmos decided to carry out a more significant repair operation on Friday June 5,” she wrote.
“Excès de prudence”
According to information provided by Reuters, the air leak worsened last Monday. Bethany Stevens assures in her press release that the evacuation preparation operation was ordered out of “an abundance of caution” by NASA “to the four members of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-12 crew as well as to NASA astronaut Chris Williams”.
