NASA ordered five International Space Station astronauts to shelter in a docked SpaceX Dragon capsule Friday afternoon as Russian cosmonauts tried to repair a growing air leak in the station's Russian segment.
Crew members Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Sophie Adenot, Andrey Fedyaev, and Chris Williams entered the Dragon "Freedom" spacecraft and donned spacesuits, ready to undock and return to Earth if necessary. The Dragon serves as a lifeboat while docked.
The leak is in a transfer tunnel called PrK, leading to the Zvezda service module. Russian commander Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and flight engineer Sergei Mikaev attempted the repair, with the Soyuz MS-28 as their escape craft.
NASA ordered the shelter-in-place after learning the cosmonauts planned to use a saw to access the crack-a method the U.S. agency disagreed with. Roscosmos later paused the repair, and NASA instructed astronauts to return to normal operations.
The cracks have persisted intermittently for six years, but a fresh pressure drop after a recent Russian cargo ship arrival prompted this repair attempt.