It is “par excès de prudence†that NASA ordered on Friday the four members of the Crew-12 Mission – including Frenchwoman Sophie Adenot – and American astronaut Chris Willams to temporarily leave the International Space Station (ISS), to take refuge in their Dragon spacecraft, while “plugging air leaks†on one of the Russian modules, reports USA Today.
This decision, quite rare, then comes “the aging station has suffered a series of cracks in recent yearsâ€observes daily life. “The Zvezda service module, Russia’s first contribution to the station, has long been the area most affected by these leaks…. The latest leak was spotted in May.
A short-term evacuation
After some emergency clogging, a “more in-depth repair operationâ€probably carried out by the two Russian cosmonauts also on board the ISS, was scheduled for this Friday. The operation presented almost no risk to the crew, but NASA “wishes to take extra caution and precautions and ask the crew to put themselves in a safety position†in his ship, docked at the station.
“The evacuation was short-lived…précise USA Today. Barely an hour after taking shelter aboard Dragon, “the astronauts have been cleared to resume normal activities as repair operations have been suspendedâ€.
The ISS, permanently occupied since November 2000, is currently hosting seven people, including the members of Crew-12, who arrived in mid-February for a six-month mission. The station is expected to remain in service for a few more years – at least until 2030 – before being decommissioned to make way for private stations.
