NASA and the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos are searching for a small air leak on the International Space Station (ISS), according to Sputnik.
The crew of the ISS will move to the Russian side of the station on Friday, and through the weekend, to allow for a couple of days of air pressure tests. This will be the second time astronauts have isolated in an attempt to find the leak.
"Over the coming weekend, the ISS crew will self-isolate in the Russian segment of the station to search for an atmospheric leak at the station. The crew will regularly perform all planned operations, nothing threatens the crew's safety," a representative Roscosmos told Sputnik.
NASA has said the leak was first detected on Sept. 2019 but has worsened in recent months.
As the ISS crew works over the weekend to find the source of the leak, readers may recall, in 2018, the station experienced another air leak that was initially thought to be the result of a micrometeorite. It was eventually concluded the tiny hole that created the air leak was a "deliberate sabotage."
Beam me up, Scotty! The leak is getting worse, they don't know where it is or why there's a leak in the first place. I'd worry about a sudden increase or even catastrophic loss of air, since so far they don't know why there is air leaking. Might be nothing, might be something, no one will know until it's found and fixed.
Should have used a shorter drill bit when putting up those shelves.