The Russian space agency wanted to “drill and see” the leaking wall on the International Space Station, NASA officials said

A major panic arose at the International Space Station (ISS) on June 4 and 5 when Roscosmos came up with shocking plans to fix the ongoing leak. NASA ordered its five astronauts to take shelter in the docked Dragon spacecraft in case things deteriorated in the space module. Reports from Ars Technica and The Register indicate that the plans are in question Drill and sawleaving NASA in shock. Bethany Stevens, the space agency’s press secretary, reported in an X post on June 5 that Russian cosmonauts were carrying out a “more extensive repair operation on Friday, June 5.” “Out of an abundance of caution, NASA has directed all four SpaceX Crew-12 crew members and astronaut Chris Williams to assume a high safety position in the Dragon spacecraft while the repair is being made,” she added.

Until now, there has been no official word on what exactly happened on the International Space Station. Leakage has been a problem since at least 2019. It is located in a short tunnel section known as PrK, which connects the Russian Zvezda module to the station’s rear docking port. Officials told the outlets that Roscosmos was ready to take drastic steps to fix the leak on June 4 and the next day.

Roscosmos used a sealant called Germetall-1 earlier this year to repair the cracks and was able to tame the problem. However, the air began leaking again in May, and the problem worsened in June. The space agency told NASA about its comprehensive plans for structural repairs. On June 4, it informed its American counterparts that they would use a drill and a “drill stop” device to make physical repairs. The stop was to prevent drilling along the unit body. NASA was concerned about this procedure and threatened to put the astronauts in suits. “They didn’t care,” an official told Ars Technica. Read also: ISS leak updates: Roscosmos says first leak has been fixed, NASA says repair efforts have been paused

The agencies continued to ask questions until Friday morning when the Russian cosmonauts came up with a more aggressive solution: using a saw to remove a bearing strut. The source said that Roscosmos continued to ignore ground communications with NASA officials. At this point, NASA directed US astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, French astronaut Sophie Adino, Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyev, all part of Crew 12, and US astronaut Chris Williams, who flew in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, to reach SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft.

“We felt there was a very high probability of a bad outcome if they removed that barrier,” a NASA source said. This is what prompted Russia to back down and drop the saw plan as well. Roscosmos has now agreed to shut down the PrK unit and will no longer try to pressure it.

The leak at the space station was a headache for both space agencies. The ISS has been in service for more than two decades, and corrosion is beginning to show, with corrosion being the primary cause of cracking in the PrK module. This part of the main area of ​​​​the Russian part leads to the docking port. The tunnel needs to be pressurized so astronauts can reach the Progress spacecraft. It begins to leak when the pressure is cycled up or down. This made the PrK vulnerable to collapse without warning and complete failure.