NASA Crew Shelters in Crew Dragon as Precaution During Russian Repairs to Zvezda Leak

NASA directed five astronauts aboard the International Space Station to shelter inside a docked Crew Dragon spacecraft on Monday morning while Russian cosmonauts carried out extensive repairs on air leaks in the Zvezda service module transfer tunnel.

The sheltering order was issued on Monday morning Eastern time after the leak rate doubled from one pound of air per day to two pounds. The four members of the SpaceX Crew-12 mission—Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Sophie Adenot and Andrew Fedyaev—plus NASA astronaut Chris Williams were told to don spacesuits and remain inside the capsule for the duration of the work.

NASA ordered the crew into the spacecraft out of an abundance of caution while Roscosmos conducted the more extensive repair operation on Friday, June 5. The Zvezda service module is 43 feet long and houses living quarters, life support, communications, electrical power distribution, data processing, flight control and propulsion systems.

The module has experienced leaks since 2019; NASA and Roscosmos have discussed root causes and mitigation measures for months.

An average adult exhales between 10 and 15 kilograms of air daily, providing context for the scale of the leak. After the repair work concluded and checks confirmed the situation was under control, the five astronauts returned to normal station activities.

The International Space Station, which measures roughly the size of a football pitch and orbits at about 250 miles altitude, has been continuously occupied since November 2000 and is scheduled for controlled deorbit in 2031.