The affected area, found in the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS), has been leaking for five years and poses no immediate threat to astronauts, NASA officials have said. "Not an impact right now on the crew safety or vehicle operations, but something for everybody to be aware of," ISS program manager Joel Montalbano said in February 2024 when the leak increased to 2.4 pounds per day, up from a historic low of 0.2 pounds per day.
Two months later, however, the leak increased by 50%, to 3.7 pounds per day, NASA's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) stated in a new report released Sept. 26. "Ongoing cracks and air leaks" in that Russian module are being examined by NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos, the report emphasized, but officials warned that the aging ISS needs several measures to keep operations going through at least the complex's planned retirement in 2030.
NASA officials recently said that the leak remains manageable, noting that more recent repair work after April 2024 reduced the all-time-high rate by roughly a third.
Source: www.space.com
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