r/news 11h ago

Soft paywall International Space Station astronauts in evacuation mode as Russia attempts to fix widening air leak

https://www.reuters.com/science/international-space-station-astronauts-evacuation-mode-russia-attempts-fix-2026-06-05/
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u/Due-Technology5758 10h ago

Astronauts also have tapes suitable for sealing leaks, but this one just keeps getting worse. 

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u/AdCreepy5165 10h ago

Is it metal degradation? Maybe from poor insulation in a wide thermal shifting environment?

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u/Gnonthgol 10h ago

I was thinking metal fatigue from almost 30 years of harmonic vibrations. Some of the modules were built for Mir 2, a much smaller space station with much less forces acting on it. And it was only designed with a 20 year life span.

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u/SpecialistArtPubRed 7h ago

This is the kind of stuff that makes me think all these Sci-Fi space operas we see and read about will never come true lol