Leak Stops on the International Space Station. But NASA Engineers Still Worry (cnn.com) 24
On the International Space Station, air has been slowly leaking out for years from a Russia-controlled module, reports CNN.
But recently "station operators realized the gradual, steady leak had stopped. And that raised an even larger concern."
It's possible that efforts to seal cracks in the module's exterior wall have worked, and the patches are finally trapping air as intended. But, according to NASA, engineers are also concerned that the module is actually holding a stable pressure because a new leak may have formed on an interior wall — causing air from the rest of the orbiting laboratory to begin rushing into the damaged area. Essentially, space station operators are worried that the entire station is beginning to lose air.
Much about this issue is unknown. NASA revealed the concerns in a June 14 statement. The agency said it would delay the launch of the private Ax-4 mission, carried out by SpaceX and Houston-based company Axiom Space, as station operators worked to pinpoint the problem. "By changing pressure in the transfer tunnel and monitoring over time, teams are evaluating the condition of the transfer tunnel and the hatch seal," the statement read.
More than a week later, the results of that research are not totally clear. After revealing the new Wednesday launch target Monday night, NASA said in a Tuesday statement that it worked with Roscosmos officials to investigate the issue. The space agencies agreed to lower the pressure in the transfer tunnel, and "teams will continue to evaluate going forward," according to the statement... The cracks are minuscule and mostly invisible to the naked eye, hence the difficulty attempting to patch problem areas.
Axiom Space launched four astronauts to the International Space Station on Wednesday.
But its four-person crew had previously "remained locked in quarantine in Florida for about a month, waiting for their chance to launch," notes CNN, as NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos "attempted to sort through" the leak issue.
Much about this issue is unknown. NASA revealed the concerns in a June 14 statement. The agency said it would delay the launch of the private Ax-4 mission, carried out by SpaceX and Houston-based company Axiom Space, as station operators worked to pinpoint the problem. "By changing pressure in the transfer tunnel and monitoring over time, teams are evaluating the condition of the transfer tunnel and the hatch seal," the statement read.
More than a week later, the results of that research are not totally clear. After revealing the new Wednesday launch target Monday night, NASA said in a Tuesday statement that it worked with Roscosmos officials to investigate the issue. The space agencies agreed to lower the pressure in the transfer tunnel, and "teams will continue to evaluate going forward," according to the statement... The cracks are minuscule and mostly invisible to the naked eye, hence the difficulty attempting to patch problem areas.
Axiom Space launched four astronauts to the International Space Station on Wednesday.
But its four-person crew had previously "remained locked in quarantine in Florida for about a month, waiting for their chance to launch," notes CNN, as NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos "attempted to sort through" the leak issue.
why is finding the leak so difficult? (Score:2)
why is finding the leak so difficult? Is it because there are layers between the inner and outer hulls that a leak can be in one spot on the inside, and show in a completely different area on the outside... and the leak can be diffused on either side so it can't be pin pointed?
Is this not something that should have been accounted for in the design and construction of the modules?
Do modern modules suffer from this deficiency in their design as well?
Ignorantly, i would have prioritized survivability and main
Re:why is finding the leak so difficult? (Score:5, Funny)
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while i get you're trying to be funny and sarcastic... but there has to be a way... isolating the module.. releasing a gas that is visible in space (maybe UV reactive) and monitoring outside? the current leak likely stopped due to ice buildup... so if the sun hits the right spot... it will likely start up again...
i realize it's not easy and requires time/work... just weird that it's enough of a risk that they won't let more people up... but not enough to actually do anything effective about.
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but it's not a novel problem.. the risk of this has existed since before manned space travel. They've had 5 years to fix this specific leak, with plenty of resupply modules. I'm curious how they will eventually fix this knowing that they have many big brains on this issue... hoping that they find a method before the ISS is decommissioned.
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This.
Find and fix the leak. If for no other reason than it will be good practice for when the next space station springs a leak.
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UV dye is actually meant for this - I have some for car air conditioners.
You'd need a way to isolate the module and vaporize it with enough air to leak out and then an ROV with a UV light and a camera.
These are all normal engineering problems except for the ROV.
Do they have an ROV or do they still make astronauts go outside?
It always seemed weird in Star Trek that they didn't have maintbots like on B5.
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The leak is so small that I don't think you'd be able to find anything with this method. The leak rate is only about 4# /day. To top it off, the entire station leaks and always has, but at a much lower rate (0.6#/day apparently). Also with an ac system you know where to look. And you can easily do so. Going outside the station is a major undertaking and I don't think you'll be able to even find the uv marker as it sublimates.
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not as small a leak as one expects.. .it was originally .6 lbs per day... then peaked around 3.7 lbs per day... then they somehow managed to get it down to a 2-2.5 lbs of loss per day
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Spray soap on the outside of the station. Look for bubbles. That's how I find radiator leaks.
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Astronaut time is very expensive, so as much of the internal equipment as possible in all the modules was installed before launch. The actual hull of a module is mostly obscured by the equipment installed inside it and trying to remove it to check behind would be a very long and involved process, and in many cases impossible. A lot of the gear is also too big to fit through internal hatches so trying to get it out of the way if it can be moved is challenging.
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I get that... and I see that as a deficient way of engineering the modules. Leaks are a known threat and likely to occur at some point statistically. I never understood why they would design these modules so that servicing/maintenance/repair would be so difficult or impossible. These things are in a hostile environment and up there for a while... WITH humans... If this was a cheap, remote, un-manned thing, i can understand not needing making it easy to repair a leak. And i get that space is limited, an
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The expected lifespan for the modules was fifteen years. Almost all of them are at least a decade over that by now.
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why is finding the leak so difficult?
Pete Hegseth gets asked that all the time... :-)
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why is finding the leak so difficult? Is it because there are layers between the inner and outer hulls that a leak can be in one spot on the inside, and show in a completely different area on the outside... and the leak can be diffused on either side so it can't be pin pointed?
Yes, there are multiple layers and also other stuff in the way. Also, the leak can just not be easy to find on the outside at all. The part I don't really get is why they can't tell whether or not the leak is affecting other modules, but at a guess it's because the leak is slow and there's variation from thermal cycling and such that makes it difficult to monitor losses that small.
What? Theyve never tried stop leak? (Score:2)
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My Model 3 doesn't need any radiator fluid, oil, or even a driver.
From Tesla Model 3 Service Manual [tesla.com]
Fish or... (Score:2)
They should have cut loose that Roscosmos junk a long time ago.