ISS Crew Shelters in Dragon Capsule After Air Leak Spikes

Five astronauts retreated to their docked SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft for two hours on Friday, marking a rare emergency maneuver as a persistent air leak in the Russian Zvezda module doubled in intensity. The order followed a disagreement between NASA and Roscosmos over the appropriate repair protocols for the aging laboratory.

The precautionary evacuation involved NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, alongside another U.S. astronaut. Mission control in Houston issued the safe-haven order at 9:04 a.m. ET after reports that Russian cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikayev intended to use a saw to access the source of the leak. NASA officials opposed this invasive repair method, preferring a more collaborative approach to stabilizing the module.

While Roscosmos maintained that the two detected leaks posed no immediate threat to the station's systems, the situation escalated when the leak rate climbed from one pound of air per day to two pounds. NASA eventually rescinded the shelter order once Roscosmos agreed to pause the repair efforts. As the station nears its 27th year in orbit, the incident highlights mounting tensions regarding the maintenance of the Zvezda service module. The U.S. Congress is currently considering legislation to extend the ISS operational lifespan until 2032, a move supported by Senators Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell to maintain a competitive edge against China’s space program.