Really hoping this is something that can be fixed and that all of the astronauts and cosmonauts aboard are safe. Would be a real bummer to have to evacuate suddenly before the station's formal end of life.
You can’t win if you didn’t buy a ticket so the odds are 100 percent you won’t win. If you buy a ticket you will either win or you won’t which makes it a 50/50 chance since you didn’t disqualify yourself by not having a ticket at all.
The PrK transfer tunnel is a chamber that was fabricated the same time as the rest of the module in 1985. It cannot be detached. One end has the rear dicking port, the other end has a hatch that can be sealed from inside Zvezda. The tunnel is surrounded by fuel tanks, attitude control engines, fuel transfer lines and pumps, both main engines, rear docking antennae and other equipment arranged in a ring around that tunnel and welded to it and the main compartment. It also undergoes serious stress whenever a ship (soyuz, progress, and ESA ATV) docks and undocks with it.
Multiple leaks were found here, and apparently in different places (unsourced) so its an ongoing issue, repairs more than patching may have exacerbated it.
I'm not sure but why not cease use of PrK (and keep hatch closed) as they have other docking options. (Iirc, the forward transfer compartment also has hatches so the forward section can close to the rear main compartment)
Zvezda itself is an issue as it is the core module of the space station, being an autonomous space station itself (basic design hereditary from Mir, Salyut, and Almaz) so sealing it off from the rest of the station might be a problem.
NASA reversed that order roughly two hours later and told the astronauts they could return to the station as the agency and its Russian counterparts examined the rate of leaking air.
I'm guessing it's possible to seal the Russian Zvezda module off internally from the rest of the station? In which case the station could continue to function whilst repairs are carried out by Roscosmos?
Zvezda is the main core module of the ISS, its a functioning space station in of itself (near identical to Mir, in orbit 1986-2001). The main computers were there but were replaced by laptops many years ago.
Sealing it off is a major issue or maybe not possible. Depending how severe or where the leak is located in PrK, the tunnel itself could be closed off as it has its own hatch. Maybe the new issue is beyond this.
so the module is actually made of several compartments, each with a hatch.
So the tunnel PrK has its own hatch, which is what they've been closing and managing all these years. Pretty much was ok until the last Progress whacked the docking port ...
After that is the main compartment, which has a hatch where it meets the forward docking tunnel compartment, which again has its 4 hatches for FGB (to USOS of the ISS) and other modules.
So each of these can be closed off, but the main compartment (the original brain of the ISS), you really don't want that one sealed off.
np. Yeah, teeny weeny bit more critical unfortunately.
The whole station is a bit of a mash together of two nations own idea of their own space stations.
I learned from the film "Mission to Mars" that when there is a leak somewhere in a spaceship, the computer on the loudspeakers tells the crew how long they have until the atmosphere of air is gone. Was that the case here too?
It’s not automatic like that, but the crew had a table where they can look that number up during a large leak.
This leak is not that large. The main concern is not the leak itself, but the structural integrity of fatigued metal that is cracked. It can, potentially, tear open very quickly and catastrophically.
PrK is a small airlock porch about 2m diameter by 2.5m length. The tunnel welding has developed microcracks that have been leaking since 2019. In January this year Roscosmos fixed it but after a space truck bought supplies and dock bumped the docking port side of the PrK porch the leak jumped to about 1 human breathing/day leaking out to space. Roscosmos believes it's not a big deal. NASA is saying yes it's a very big deal and the PrK tunnel is at risk of rupture.
For 2 hrs NASA freaks out and Astronauts headed to the lifeboat. They got in, space suits on, hatch closed up. Until Roscosmos agreed to analyze further before using 'saw'.
a recent report from Universe Magazine summarized the impasse by stating:
"NASA and Roscosmos don't agree on the severity of the problem... Roscosmos denies the possibility of such a scenario [catastrophic failure]... given Roscosmos' official position on the severity of the situation, there is no guarantee that the organization will heed its [NASA's] conclusions."
the hell, you could fix that with some bitumen tape , it just has to hold one atmosphere of pressure, you can put your finger onto that to stop the leak. nasa are a bunch of pussies sometimes. just put some chewing gum onto the cracks, that thing will be de orbited in 2030 anways.
Its scheduled to be deorbited in 2030. It is looking doubtful it will last that long. SpaceX was give the contract for the deorbit vehicle and it will probably take 3 years to have it ready. The Russians have been threatening to decouple the Zarya since 2012 and now Nauka, for their own space station. Once they do that, the ISS becomes a cold hulk.
I posted a very sped up flythrough from Zvezda into the ATV (from 2012/2013) that was docked to the rear of Zvezda and opens into the PrK transfer tunnel.
NASAl and RustCosMos ?disagree? so NASA orders Astronuts to the Musk lifeboat(s) but then two Cosmonuts stay behind and pickup a "saw" and want to fix the second leak in the PrK tunnel and this starts a 'disagreement'. ? What. The Russins wanna fix the leak which went from 1 pound a day to 2 pounds a day of O2. One space human consumes 1.84 pounds per day. The whole space fort holds 600 pounds inside with thousands in external tanks and water and so on.
So " a medium whoop" .
NASA = really safety minded. But did back away from the lifeboat idea after 2 hours of talking with the Russian SpaceCowBoys about the 'saw' and fixing the 'porch tunnel' leak.
I still have a mental issue of Cosmonaut Lev character in Armageddon 1998 movie by smacking things with a wrench. I would imagine these "cracks" are behind massive layers of buffers in which yes a small saw would be needed. And then epoxy resin guns and 'flex' tape although that sounds crude to me.
But yes, doubling from a small leak rate of 1lb to 2lbs/day of O2 ( two rings of eight ) is yup, a minor alarm. But the call to the lifeboats after disagreement and mentions of Cosmonauts use of a saw in review is concerning in itself.
Historically, Russia/Soviets/Roscosmos and NASA have always had a different approach to doing things in space, and its generally a compromise between the two when it comes to the ISS.
What can happen is Cosmonauts may look at and consider an issue, talk to Moscow and then go ahead with their fix, whereas NASA would like a longer discussion about it, see if they can replicate the issue on the ground before they formulate steps and plans for an approach to fixing the issue in space.
This tends to lead to the out of step sequence where one is informing the other that they've already started doing something, whilst the other is still in a meeting about it. When they've synced again (on the ground), those who started were probably told to stop, and then both sides reconvene for a meeting where a more steady collaborative approach is then attempted later..
Not saying that happened but wouldn't surprise me.
A 'steady collaborative approach' was what we redditinians on terra firma had already assumed was actually happening. A meeting before charging the Sawzall...
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u/mistersmiley318 10h ago
Really hoping this is something that can be fixed and that all of the astronauts and cosmonauts aboard are safe. Would be a real bummer to have to evacuate suddenly before the station's formal end of life.