Astronauts on the ISS continue to struggle with an oxygen leak that evacuates the breathable atmosphere into space. Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin said the oxygen leak was under control. However, the Russian space organization is ready to send additional oxygen to the space station in February, if necessary.
Rogozin was clear in a press conference about the leak that the space station has oxygen reserves. He said the cargo ship, which will be sent to the ISS in February, will also have an oxygen source. If additional oxygen is needed, some of the cargo destined for shipment aboard the Russian capsule could be delivered later by US spacecraft. This would allow Russia to send extra oxygen in February, if needed.
The general manager assured people that there was no need to worry and that everything was under control on board the ISS. However, Rogozin said the leak was a “wake-up call” and that it was time to consider new structures. The administrator promised that the problems on board the ISS would be fixed.
Regarding what caused the leak, Rogozin suggested that micrometeorites could have had an impact on the body. He also believes the station’s downtime is partly to blame. This is not the first leak on board the ISS. One of the Russian cosmonauts aboard the space station believes that air could escape through the transition room.
In October, the ISS crew found an air leak in the intermediate chamber of the Russian Zvezda module. The cause of this leak is unknown. The current source of air leaks is unknown and a specialist said gas reserves are being lost.