Here is another story that is blowing an icy wind between NASA and Roscosmos! Imagine yourself quietly installed in the International Space Station (ISS), and there, you hear a small pschiiiiiiit very worrying.
Nothing serious?
Not so sure, because this little air leak is the subject of a real space showdown between the United States and Russia.
Since 2019, a persistent leak in a transfer tunnel of the Russian Zvezda module has been playing spoilsport. The flow worsened last April, reaching 1.7 kg of air per day. And as if that wasn’t complicated enough, the two space agencies look at each other like hogsheads when it comes to assessing the seriousness of the situation. On the one hand, NASA is raising red flags and talking about the risk of catastrophic failure. On the other hand, Roscosmos shrugs its shoulders in ‘Bez problem, tovarich!’ (No problem, comrade)
The situation is so tense that even Thomas Pesquet, if he were to return to the ISS, would probably have to play mediator: “So guys, do we close the window or not for the drafts? And if I put chewing gum on the leak, does that count as a Franco-European solution?”
Differences of opinion are worthy of a space sitcom.
- American astronaut: “Have you heard this new whistling sound?”
- Russian cosmonaut: “What hiss? It’s just the wind of solidarity!”
- NASA: “It’s a guaranteed disaster if we don’t do anything!”
- Roscosmos : “Well, it’s just a little leak of nothing at all.”
- American astronaut: “Friends, calm down, I suggest we instead eat these delicious pockets of dehydrated food…”
To handle this situation Kafkaesquecrews must now follow procedures worthy of a science fiction film. They keep the escape segment permanently closed, only opening it to unload the cargo ship that docks at the nearby port. NASA, cautious as a scalded cat, even began planning plans B, C and Z, adding additional seats in the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsules, in case there was a need to evacuate urgently.
American experts point to several factors: mechanical stress, exposure to the space environment, and perhaps even manufacturing defects. The Russians blame the vibrations which would fatigue the structure. Like your car is making a weird noise and every mechanic you go to has their own conspiracy theory.
While waiting for them to come to an agreement, the astronauts and cosmonauts continue their space sharing, juggling safety procedures.
In short, this situation highlights a broader challenge: how to manage the aging of the ISS, which should theoretically continue to operate until 2030?
Tonight, when you look at the stars, you will know that somewhere in space, a small pschiiiiit continues to taunt the world’s largest space agencies…
Source + image 1 + image 2
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