As part of the planned spacewalk, scheduled for this summer, Russian cosmonauts will inspect the outer surface of the modular compartment of the Zvezda module of the International Space Station. They will try to find the place of the impact of the micrometeorite, which could cause an air leak in the compartment. This was reported by RIA Novosti with reference to its own source in the rocket and space industry.

“In the summer, during the planned extravehicular activities, it is planned to inspect the outer surface of the aggregate compartment of the Zvezda module by Russian cosmonauts., – said the source of the news agency. He also noted that the inspection of the outer surface of the module should confirm the version according to which the air leak at the orbital station began after the collision with the micrometeorite. According to available data, extravehicular work of Russian cosmonauts is scheduled for June 2021. It is worth noting that in November last year, the cosmonauts already examined the outer surface of the module, during which no damage was found.   

Recall that a small air leak was first detected on the ISS in September 2019. Since then, the station crew has been able to locate the leak in the intermediate chamber of the Zvezda module. It is assumed that by the middle of this month, the cosmonauts will completely complete the work on sealing the compartment. It was also reported that there may still be cracks in the intermediate chamber of the Zvezda module that could lead to air leakage.