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NASA puts astronauts from the International Space Station on evacuation alert [Updated]
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Update, June 5, 5:09 p.m. NASA has ordered to end the preventive procedure and return to planned operations on the ISS, after Roscosmos paused repair work on the PrK tunnel. Below is the original article. |
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It could have been just another day of work aboard the International Space Station, but the situation has taken a delicate turn. NASA has put several astronauts on evacuation alert after an air leak in the Russian part of the orbital laboratory worsened, leading the agency to order them to take shelter as a precaution in a docked spacecraft.
The order came from NASA mission control at 9:04 a.m., East Coast time of the United States (3:04 p.m. Spanish peninsular time). Several crew members were instructed to enter the SpaceX Crew Dragon ship and put on their corresponding space suits in case the situation led to an emergency evacuation.
There are currently seven crew members on the ISS, but the preventive measure does not affect all of them. Bethany Stevens, from the NASA communications team, explains that the order reaches Americans Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway and Chris Williams, from NASA; to the French Sophie Adenot, from the European Space Agency, and to the Russian Andrey Fedyaev, from Roscosmos.
The leak is located in a very specific area of the Russian segment: the Zvezda service module transfer tunnel, known as PrK. According to Stevens, that part of the station has been showing cracks and leaks for some time, an issue that NASA has closely monitored and that Roscosmos has tried to contain until now with operational measures and partial repairs.
Cracks have always been a concern that NASA watches closely. NASA and Roscosmos have been working to determine the root cause of the cracks, and Roscosmos is managing the problem through operational mitigation measures and periodic partial repair efforts.
At the moment, the alert does not equate to an ongoing evacuation. What NASA has activated is a preventive measure while Roscosmos works in the affected area, with part of the crew on Dragon and the rest of the station under monitoring. The difference is important: there is preparation for a possible emergency scenario, but no confirmed exit.
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