The International Space Station (ISS) has had a leak since at least 2019 and NASA warns it could lead to a “catastrophic failure” if it’s not fixed. Russia, on the other hand, claims it isn’t that big of a deal.
According to NASA, if the leak isn’t remedied the goal of utilizing the International Space Station until 2030 could become unrealistic. (NASA has already agreed to pay Elon Musk’s SpaceX $843 million to destroy it in 2030.)
Worse than that though, Bob Cabana, chairman of the NASA’s ISS Advisory Committee, recently said that the leak has the potential to develop further and create a “catastrophic failure.”
“NASA faces increasing risks to sustaining ISS operations through 2030,” NASA’s Office of Inspector General wrote in a recent report. “On-going cracks and air leaks in the Service Module Transfer Tunnel are a top safety risk; and NASA and Roscosmos are collaborating to investigate and mitigate the cracks and leaks, determine the root cause, and monitor the Station for new leaks.
“However, in April 2024 NASA identified an increase in the leak rate to its highest level to date. Outside of structural risk mitigation, ISS Program officials expect continuing operations of the Station will require further repairs, and upgrades of key replaceable parts may be more difficult to acquire as suppliers decrease or cease production.”
The report added, “Currently, the ISS is structurally certified through 2028.” It also notes, “The ISS was initially scheduled to retire in 2015.”
Despite NASA’s findings, CNN reports that Cabana has said the Russian space agency Roscosmos “does not believe catastrophic disintegration … is realistic.”
Cabana also stated, “The Russians believe that continued operations are safe — but they can’t prove that to our satisfaction. And the U.S. believes that it’s not safe, but we can’t prove that to the Russian satisfaction.”
Russia also is the only NASA international partner who hasn’t agreed to deorbit the International Space Station in 2030.
“NASA anticipated that Roscosmos would commit to the Agency’s ISS deorbit plan — which requires a continued partnership through 2030 — in the summer of 2023,” the NASA Office of Inspector General report states. “However, as of June 2024, negotiations continue, and no agreement has been finalized.”
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