The International Space Station is a set of modules assembled one inside the other. They form a structure as big as a football field. This space apartment, with a breathtaking view of the Earth, is able to accommodate six to eight people continuously. Since its start-up in 2000, astronauts from all over the world take turns in the station.
Never in 20 years has the device found itself without human life on board. However, the ISS was the closest to disaster last week. The Soyuz spacecraft, intended to bring astronauts back to Earth in an emergency, has started to leak.
Within hours, the air pressure level in the module dropped. Before ground crews understand the gravity of the situation, the entire space station will be impacted.
According to several experts, this is the most important incident in the history of the station. The official speech of NASA assures him that an investigation must still assess the damage caused by a loss of oxygen in the station.
A major incident?
While the incident is in full swing, Roscosmos teams quickly recognize that their module is the source of the leak. The temperature has changed too much, it is declared “unusable”. An announcement which however puts the seven astronauts on board in embarrassment.
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon ship, which is their only exit door, has only four seats. An emergency evacuation is therefore impossible at the moment. While waiting for Russia to send a new ship to the ISS, which should be done within a few days, the three space agencies in charge of the station are trying to understand the reasons for this leak.
Each country has its own idea on the subject, without however rejecting the two third hypotheses. Most likely, the passage of the Geminid asteroids a few weeks ago caused an impact on the ISS. But for NASA, this theory does not agree with the marks left on the station.
Space debris as suspect number 1?
On the side of the ESA, it is space debris that is incriminated. These elements lost in orbit are absolute dangers. Uncontrollable, they come and go in orbit forcing the ISS to track them to predict their trajectory and thus avoid a collision at 27,000 km/h.
If the impact could have been created by space debris, Russia is not out of the woods yet. A few months ago a hole had been discovered by the astronauts present in the ISS. It had put the whole mission in danger and had been caused by an error on the assembly line in Russia.
Heavy suspicions still hang over Moscow. The investigation is ongoing by NASA, ESA and Roscosmos as the astronauts on board are still waiting for their second rescue craft to bring them back to Earth if needed.
