The crew of the International Space Station (ISS) has begun the final sealing the second crack in the Russian Zvezda module, which caused an air leak, according to the ISS crew's communications with the ground control, broadcast by NASA on Monday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th March, 2021) The crew of the International Space Station (ISS) has begun the final sealing the second crack in the Russian Zvezda module, which caused an air leak, according to the ISS crew's communications with the ground control, broadcast by NASA on Monday.
The ISS crew started repair work on the second crack last week.
"We have three days of sealing work [on the second crack] ahead," an expert from the Moscow-based Mission Control Center told the crew.
According to the expert, cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov need to clean the place between the pipeline of the thermal control system and the compartment body with alcohol wipes. The crew must then apply sealant to the area.
A small air leak was first detected at the ISS in September 2019 but increased in intensity only in August of 2020. Russian cosmonauts have since established the source of the leak and sealed it. According to Russia's space agency Roscosmos, the air leak posed no threat to the crew. Later in December, the agency said that there might be other cracks.
Last week, a source in the rocket and space sphere told Sputnik that the two cracks in the Zvezda module would be completely sealed by March 12.
