NASA said nyet to Roscosmos plan to cut into leaky ISS segment
Russia’s space agency Roscosmos reportedly considered cutting into part of the aging International Space Station to gauge leak severity, with talks of a handsaw or a drill circulating. NASA officials warned that such an approach could stress the structure, potentially creating new problems, leading to an abrupt halt in the plan. The issue centers on the Zvezda service module’s PrK transfer tunnel, where increasing air leaks have raised concerns about broader cracks in a module dating back to the Mir era. While epoxy patches offer short-term fixes, engineers hint that sealing off the affected segment might be the most viable long-term option, despite risks to overall station operations. The Crew-12 astronauts and NASA’s Chris Williams sought refuge in a Crew Dragon after a spike in leakage, underscoring the mounting urgency