It became known that the cosmonauts on board the International Space Station closed the hatch into the compartment of the Russian Zvezda module, in which there is an air leak. According to available data, the compartment will remain in this state until July. This was reported by RIA Novosti with reference to the negotiations of the station’s crew with the Earth.

During negotiations with a specialist from the Mission Control Center near Moscow, cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov confirmed that the hatch to the intermediate chamber was closed. Before that, he scattered dry soup in the problem compartment as indicators of air leaks and placed a video camera that would record the movements of these indicators inside the camera.

During the negotiations, it was also said that the intermediate chamber of the Zvezda module would remain in an isolated state until the next Progress MS-17 cargo vehicle arrives at the orbital station, which is scheduled to launch on June 30. Cosmonaut Sergei Ryzhikov, who returned from the ISS not so long ago, previously talked about how ingenuity and household items, such as foam balls, threads, paper strips, tea leaves and other fairly light objects that can be attracted to cracks, helped to detect air leaks on the ISS in the Zvezda module housing.

Recall that a small air leak on the ISS was recorded in the fall of 2019. In March 2021, the station’s crew discovered and repaired two cracks. Despite this, the air did not stop leaving the station, although the rate of leakage decreased. At present, the pressure at the station is dropping by 0,4 millimeters of mercury per day, which is far from the emergency value of 0,5 millimeters of mercury per minute. To compensate for the leak, the crew has to regularly pressurize with air, nitrogen and oxygen, the reserves of which are available at the station and are replenished by cargo ships.