ISS Crew Briefly Shelters Following Air Leaks

ISS Crew Briefly Shelters inFollowing Dragon Over Zvezda Air Leaks

Is Russia's negligence putting lives at risk or is this a complex engineering mystery beyond blame?

Published JUN 5

ISS Crew Briefly Shelters Following Air Leaks

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Above: Crew-12 astronauts walk to SpaceX Dragon launch in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Feb. 13. Image credit: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

The Spin

Russia's shoddy materials on the ISS have caused a dangerous, growing air leak that's been ignored for years. The U.S. has no business continuing to partner with Russia in space when theirits negligence is putting astronauts' lives at risk. It's time to cut ties and stop pretending this cooperation is working.

Adam Kinzinger on X

The Zvezda module air leak is a complex engineering failure that neither NASA nor Russia fully understands. Microscopic cracks have stumped engineers since 2019, with multiple repair attempts only partially reducing a leak now rated at the highest risk level. Blaming one side misses the point when both agencies can't even agree on the root cause.

Bethany Stevens on X Ars Technica

Metaculus Prediction

There's a 50% chance that a free-flying commercial space station will become operational by September 2030, according to the Metaculus prediction community.