Roscosmos Says Small ISS Transfer Tunnel Leaks Repaired

NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX are considering launch opportunities on or after Thursday, June 19, for the Axiom 4 mission to the International Space Station. The announcement comes after Roscosmos confirmed to NASA  that its recent repairs to the PrK module had been stopped.

The space agency and Axiom Space had delayed the mission on June 12 as the U.S. and Russian agencies work together to try and get a handle on the small air leaks in the module, which is a connecting or transfer tunnel that connects the Zvezda module with the docking port used by Soyuz and Progress spacecraft for resupply missions.

Small air leaks have beleaguered the space station since at least 2019, and the most recent one affecting the PrK module is one of the oldest components of the station, having been launched in 1998.

Roscosmos said the pressure inside the transfer tunnel has been stable since the repairs were completed, indicating that the leaks have been effectively stopped, at least for the time being.

The astronaut and cosmonaut teams periodically modulate the pressure in the tunnel to evaluate its condition as well as the hatch between the rest of the space station and the Zvezda.

NASA said it’s not unusual for launch schedules to be adjusted depending on operations aboard the station. Repair of the leak and evaluation of the tunnel configuration and pressure have led to an updated opportunity for the Axiom 4 launch.

The Axiom Mission 4 crew is composed of Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut the director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space and will be mission commander. Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as the pilot and is an astronaut in the Indian space agency ISRO.

Sawosz Uznaski-Winiewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary will be the mission specialists and represent the first astronauts from their respective countries to stay aboard the ISS.

FMI:  www.nasa.gov/