Mission Control Center on Tuesday, August 25, instructed the ISS crew to open the hatches between the Russian and American segments of the station. Thus, the isolation of the crew on the Russian segment of the station due to an air leak is complete.
“The process of opening the hatches will take about an hour,” RIA Novosti quotes a representative of the press service of Roscosmos.
However, it was still not possible to locate the leak.
Earlier on the same day, the head of the state corporation Dmitry Rogozin said that the problem with air leaks at the station had been resolved. He stressed that the incident did not pose a threat to the lives of the astronauts.
“I want to reiterate that the pressure drop detected by the Russian devices was minimal and did not pose a threat to the operation of the station. After the completion of routine maintenance in the American segment of the ISS, the pressure has completely stabilized, “he stressed in an interview with TASS, published on the Roscosmos website.
Rogozin added that having isolated on the Russian segment of the station, the crew acted quite justifiably, since the manned spacecraft Soyuz MS, on which the cosmonauts arrived at the station, was docked to the module of the Russian part of the ISS.
The decision that on Tuesday the hatches between the Russian and American segments of the station will be opened on the ISS was made the day before following a meeting of the flight control centers of partner countries, the press service of the state corporation reported.
During the negotiations, the tightness of all tested ISS modules was ascertained. It was assumed that after opening the hatches, the station crew will continue to monitor the pressure level and atmosphere.
The ISS crew was isolated in the Russian segment on August 21 for three days due to an air leak, access to the American part of the station is closed, Gazeta.ru writes. In addition to American astronaut Christopher Cassidy, Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Wagner are on the ISS.