Cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) have been asked to escalate their search towards finding a possible leak on the space station after mission controllers discovered that the level of oxygen on the ISS was depleting. The mission control has asked cosmonauts to find the source of the leak from the Zvezda module on the facility, warning them that the spacecraft has been losing its reserve supply of oxygen, according to a report by RT.com.
The report cited a recent NASA broadcast where a specialist form the Russian Mission Control Center from Korolyov in Moscow told the crew that at present they do not understand in what part of the intermediate chamber the extra leak is present, adding that regrettably, they will not be able to do anything without the cosmonauts' input.
As per the report, the problem needs an immediate solution as the station has been running out of reserve oxygen in its attempt towards compensating for the leak.
Even though the conversation caused quite a bit of alarm, ISS cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradav assured that there was no reason to panic, stating that they are working in a routine manner and that they have been flying with the leak for half a year. Furthermore, Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russia's space agency, Roscosmos maintained that the situation was under control and if needed an additional supply of oxygen will be delivered to orbit.
As per Rogozin, they are planning to send a Progress cargo ship to the ISS in February, however, adding that it is only a temporary solution as the older modules in the stations need to be retired.
The news of the air leak was first reported in August when crewmembers of Expedition 63 at ISS started tracking down the leak inside the Zvezda service module. At that time, NASA had revealed that astronauts can work in the station in a maintained atmosphere pressure, but with a tiny bit of air leaks over the team, routine re-pressurisation from nitrogen tanks that are delivered during resupply missions are required.
source https://www.firstpost.com/tech/science/cosmonauts-asked-to-find-a-possible-leak-on-iss-after-mission-controllers-discovered-depleting-oxygen-9134591.html
