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The International Space Station Is Leaking Air — Here's What That Means for Astronauts
A pressure leak on the International Space Station (ISS) has delayed the launch of the Axiom 4 Mission
The leak has been sealed and the segment is now 'holding pressure,' but NASA is delaying the launch indefinitely
While a leak may sound scary, NASA explained that the seven astronauts aboard the ISS are in no immediate dangerA leak on the International Space Station (ISS) has caused a delay for a mission.
NASA explained in a June 12 press release that the launch of the four-person Axiom Mission 4 will be delayed indefinitely while Russian scientists aboard the ISS investigate a pressure leak on the station's Zvezda service module.
The cosmonauts "sealed some additional areas of interest and measured the current leak rate," NASA officials wrote. "Following this effort, the segment now is holding pressure."
The 25-year-old Russian-made module provides living quarters, life support, electrical power, data processing, flight control and more to the astronauts on the station, according to NASA's website.
While a leak may sound scary, the astronauts on the ISS are in no immediate danger, per NASA. However, the leak and other maintenance concerns over the last several years led to the international decision to retire the ISS by 2030, per NPR.
The ISS was initially launched in 1998 and orbits the Earth at about 250 miles above ground. There are seven scientists aboard the station.
The Axiom 4 Mission was previously delayed on June 11 after a propellant leak was discovered in the booster of the SpaceX rocket designated to launch the astronauts into space. It was delayed the previous day on June 10 due to non-ideal weather conditions at the launch site in NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The Axiom 4 Mission is the fourth mission launched in collaboration with Axiom Space, which is a privately funded American space infrastructure developer based in Houston, Texas, per their website.
NASA stated that a new launch date for the mission will be provided to the public once it becomes available.
NASA also stated that Peggy Whitson, the former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, will command the mission, and SRO (Indian Space Research Organization) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as pilot.
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The two mission specialists aboard will be European Space Agency project astronauts Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary.
Read the original article on People
