ISS crew returns after being ordered to shelter during air leak repair

The crew of the International Space Station has been allowed to return to normal operations after being ordered to shelter in a docked spacecraft. The order was given due to a worsening air leak in the Russian segment. Five of the seven crew members were directed to enter the SpaceX shuttle Dragon Freedom on Friday afternoon. They were instructed to put on their spacesuits and brace for a potential evacuation. Two Russian cosmonauts, station commander Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and flight engineer Sergei Mikaev, remained in the station to attempt a repair. They planned to use a saw to access the crack in the transfer tunnel, known as PrK, which leads to the Zvezda service module. However, Nasa disagreed with this method, and mission control in Houston ordered the five crew to take safe-haven procedures. The repairs were paused, and later the crew was ordered back onto the station. The air leak has been a recurring issue for approximately six years, with cracks appearing on and off. According to retired Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, the station normally leaks about half a pound of pressure per day. When the leak increases to a pound or more, it triggers a threshold for action. The decision to attempt a more extensive repair was prompted by a fresh slow pressure drop noticed by Roscosmos after the arrival of a Russian cargo ship last month. Nasa's spokeswoman Bethany Stevens confirmed on X that the crew had ended the safe-haven procedures. Russian news agency Tass, citing Roscosmos, reported that nothing had threatened the safety of the crew or the station's systems. The ISS, which spans the length of a football field, has been continuously operated since 1998 by a consortium including the US, Russia, Canada, Japan, and 11 European countries.