According to network sources, the crew of the International Space Station has completed work to seal the second crack in the Russian Zvezda module. This was reported by the Interfax news agency with reference to the negotiations between the crew of the orbital station with the ground-based Mission Control Center.

During the negotiations, the MCC specialist confirmed that the work was successful. “Things are good. You can turn off the camera, we got a very good picture“, – quotes the source of the words of the MCC specialist.

Earlier, the press service of the Rocket and Space Corporation Energia announced that on March 10, the cosmonauts would apply a second layer of sealant to the second crack. It is also known that on March 12, the astronauts will close the hatch of the Zvezda module’s transition chamber to make sure that the air leak is completely eliminated. According to the head of the RSC Energia flight operations center, Yuri Gidzenko, only two cracks were found on the orbital station.

The first crack was sealed last week when the astronauts covered the leak with a reinforced patch. Two holes were pre-drilled along the edges of the crack to relieve stress in this area. After preparing and cleaning the leak, the cosmonauts covered the crack with a special hermetic-based mixture.

Recall that the first crack, about 4 cm in size, was discovered last fall. The astronauts repaired it with improvised means, thereby reducing the leakage rate. In February of this year, a powerful microscope was delivered to the station on the Progress MS-16 spacecraft to search for leaks, as well as materials for sealing the detected cracks.