Astronauts told to shelter on spacecraft after air leaks are found on ISS

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) have been told to shelter as an urgent repair is needed to fix air leaks.

Five out of seven cosmonauts in the Russian section of the ISS have been told to shelter inside the docked SpaceX Crew Dragon ‘Freedom’ spacecraft.

The remaining two are carrying out urgent repairs following a leak in the transfer tunnel.

There have been cracks in the spacecraft for years, but up until now they have just patched over.

The Russian Space Agency noticed last month a fresh pressure drop in the tunnel, prompting the more intense repair today.

Nasa spokeswoman Bethany Stevens said: ‘The Zvezda service module transfer tunnel, known as PrK, has suffered from cracks and leaks for some time, and has been mitigated by Roscosmos as much as possible to date.

‘The cracks have always been a concern that NASA watches very closely. NASA and Roscosmos have been working to determine the root cause of the cracks, and Roscosmos manages the issue through operational mitigation measures and periodic partial-repair efforts.

‘Following new leaks, Roscosmos has elected to proceed with a more extensive repair operation on Friday, June 5.

‘Out of an abundance of caution, NASA has directed all four of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-12 members and NASA astronaut Chris Williams to assume an elevated safety posture in the Dragon spacecraft while the repair is underway.

‘We continue to work with our Russian counterparts, along with the rest of the international community that supports the space station, to arrive at a more permanent resolution.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.