Air Leak Rate at Russia's ISS Zvezda Module Halves After Crack Sealed With Tape

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The air leak rate in the Russian Zvezda module of the International Space Station has halved after the crack in the intermediate compartment was sealed with tape, according to the crew's communication with Earth, broadcast by NASA.

On Friday, cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin informed the Moscow-based Mission Control Centre that the pressure in the compartment had declined by 52 mm Hg to 681 mm Hg over 11.5 hours, while the leak rate had fallen to 4 mm per hour from 7-9 mm per hour.

The cosmonaut noted that the pressure continued to fall, but at a slower pace. He also suggested trying US patches to seal the crack.

The Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft carrying the crew formed of Kathleen Rubins of NASA, Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos is seen before docking to Rassvet module of the International Space Station (ISS), October 14, 2020, in this picture taken by Russian cosmonaut Ivan Vagner from the International Space Station (ISS).

© REUTERS / IVAN VAGNER/RUSSIAN SPACE AGENCY

Russian space agency Roscosmos earlier told Sputnik that the air leak posed no threat to the crew.

Earlier, Russian cosmonauts sealed the source of the air leak. On Thursday night, they once again closed the hatch to the "leaking" compartment to control pressure.