Cosmonauts aboard the ISS have cut out thin strips of paper and plastic and plan to attach them to the inside walls of Russia’s Zvezda service module to try to determine the source of the air leak which has plagued the space station for over a year now.
Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gidzenko, who contacted the two Russians aboard the station – flight engineers Anatoli Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner, says the cosmonauts were asked to deploy a pair of GoPro cameras in the suspected ‘leaking’ chamber of the Zvezda module before closing the hatches.
One of the cameras is expected to engage in the real-time monitoring of a pressure gauge to determine how quickly pressure drops in the compartment. The other is expected to watch the movement of the strips of paper and plastic hung around the module, with others allowed to float freely through it.
If all goes to plan, and the source of the leak is detected, the flow of air is expected to pull the affixed strips in the direction of the leak, while the free-floating confetti will accumulate near it.
A small air leak was first detected aboard the ISS in September 2019. Between August and September 2020, the leak’s intensity intensified five-fold, from 270 grams to 1.4 kilograms of air lost per day. The emergency prompted the crew to close the hatches of ISS modules on two separate occasions to check pressurization, with astronauts and cosmonauts isolating themselves for days in the station’s Russian segment.
It’s presently believed that the leak is located in the Russian-made Zvezda module. After the leak’s precise location is found, the crew will work to fix it.
Alongside Ivanishin and Vagner, the ISS also has three NASA astronauts aboard, including flight commander Chris Cassidy, and flight engineers Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken. Roscosmos flight engineers Sergei Ryzhikov and Sergei Kud-Sverchkov, as well as NASA astronaut Kathleen Rubins, are expected to join the crew later this month.