Kenneth Glad
A renewed air loss on the International Space Station is putting fresh focus on a bigger question: How long the aging orbital lab can safely keep flying. The problem involves the Russian PrK transfer tunnel, where NASA and Roscosmos have tracked microscopic structural cracks for more than five years.
The latest pressure drop was detected after Russian cosmonauts unloaded cargo from Progress 95 on May 1.
The problem centers on the PrK transfer tunnel, a small passageway attached to Russia’s Zvezda service module that helps connect visiting spacecraft to the station.
NASA spokesperson Josh Finch told Ars Technica: “Teams performed data analysis, which indicated a loss of about one pound per day.”
Finch said Roscosmos is allowing pressure in the tunnel to fall gradually while monitoring the rate, with small repressurizations as needed.
In January, NASA said the module had reached a stable pressure state after inspections and sealant work.
SpaceNews reported last month that the underlying cracking problem remained unresolved.
Bob Cabana, chair of NASA’s ISS Advisory Council, said teams had made progress but had not yet settled on one root cause. Possible explanations include vibration fatigue or environmentally assisted cracking.
The immediate risk may be contained, but the recurring problem makes each extension decision harder to defend.
Beyond 2030
The International Space Station is still scheduled to be retired in 2030, but that timeline is no longer settled. NASA and U.S. lawmakers have discussed keeping the orbital lab operating until at least 2032.
The renewed pressure loss makes that debate more difficult. Ars Technica writes that NASA has treated the Russian section’s structural risk as highly serious internally, even while officials have said there is no immediate danger to the crew.
NASA’s challenge is timing. If the station is retired in 2030, privately operated replacements must be ready by then to take over research and crew activity in low Earth orbit.
Some commercial station developers have targeted readiness around 2030. Former NASA commercial spaceflight official Phil McAlister told Ars Technica:
“This further confirms the wisdom of the current policy of retiring the ISS in 2030 and replacing it with more modern, more cost-effective, and safer commercial platforms.”
Extending the station would not be NASA’s decision alone. Any new timeline would need support from international partners, including Russia.
Sources: Ars Technica, SpaceNews
