NASA wants to launch the fourth private mission of Axiom Space at the International Space Station (ISS) this week, after the last attempts to repair air leaks in the Russian module seem to have been successful.
Last week, the Space Agency postponed abruptly the throw of Axiom Mission 4, which was released on June 11. NASA cited a new signal of pressure on a Zvezda service module segment Air has been leaked for almost six years, very slowly. In a follow -up statement On Saturday, NASA explained that the pressure signal (a change in the flow of air or the pressure of the cabin collected by the sensors) can be a sign that the leaks have been sealed. There is also a possibility that the air began to flow to a different area of the stern segment of the Russian module, giving rise to the new pressure signal.
“After the most recent repair, the pressure of the transfer tunnel has been stable. Previously, pressure in this area would have dropped,” NASA wrote in a statement. “This could indicate that small leaks have been sealed. The equipment also suggests that the stable pressure could be the result of a small amount of air that flows to the transfer tunnel through the seal of the Portella in the main part of the space station ().”
NASA is monitoring the change of pressure over time and evaluating the condition of the transfer tunnel and the stamp of the trace between the space station and the back of the Zvezda module. In the meantime, the agency decided to launch the AX-4 release not before Thursday, June 19th. The mission will be directed by Spaceflight Veteran Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut who holds the national record of the most accumulated days spent in space. To her will be added by the pilot Shubhanshu Shukla of India, a mission specialist Sławosz Uznański-Wśnightwski of Poland and specialist in Tibor Kapu Missions of Hungary.
The decision to postpone the mission was to allow more time for NASA and the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, to evaluate the situation aboard the ISS, and decide if more problem solving is needed before adding more crew members to the space station. In his most recent statement, NASA said “teams are making progress evaluating the configuration of the transfer tunnel”.
Roscosmos reported for the first time of leak in August 2020, drawing -in the Zvezda life support module Russia launched itself in Low Earth’s orbit in July 2000. dubbed one pound a day to a little over two kilos a dayaccording to a report published in 2024. This led NASA to lift the escape to the highest level of risk. At that time, it was reported that NASA and Roscosm could disagree on the main cause of the escape or a way to solve it.
Although it takes years to approach, the recent repair efforts show some advances in trying to fix the space station. Whether or not to house the ASSEMPTER IS TO HAVE MORE ASTRONAUTES Right now it is left to see.
