Russian cosmonauts stationed aboard the International Space Station have discovered several new cracks in the wall of the space station, reports Reuters. The cosmonauts have warned that these cracks can widen over time.
“Superficial fissures have been found in some places on the Zarya module,” Vladimir Solovyov, chief engineer at Energia, told state-owned news agency RIA, quoted by Reuters. “This is bad and suggests that the fissures will begin to spread over time.”
Avalanche of equipment failure
This is yet another sign that the orbital outpost is aging. After being permanently occupied for over two decades, the ISS is starting to accumulate cracks and fissures that haven’t posed any threat so far to the crew, but that could change in a few years.
Roscosmos reported in July that pressure levels in the ISS’ Zvezda service module were dropping due to an air leak. Solovyov also said that the space station would likely experience an “avalanche” of equipment failures in 2025, as per Reuters.
But the latest report should be taken with a pinch of salt. Russia is continuously distancing itself from the ISS’ operations and has confirmed its exit from the space laboratory by as soon as 2025.
Blame game at its peak
Russian media also accused a NASA astronaut of sabotaging a mission on the ISS. State-owned news service TASS did not provide any evidence to back its accusations, and also their claims come from an alleged anonymous source at the Russian space agency. It could be a way of deflecting blame from the actual reason – the Nauka module ran into a software glitch.
Just three hours after docking, Nauka sent the ISS off course when it suddenly fired up its thrusters. The module received the command to “withdraw,” sending the orbital outpost rotating away from its usual orientation. The Russian space agency assured that everything was fine and has worked out well.
Besides, the Interfax news agency report suggested that Russia and the United States will continue to work with each other on the International Space Station (ISS) after 2024. The news agency cited a senior Russian official at Roscosmos space agency.
