An unexpected version of a crack on the ISS has appeared, which caused an air leak in the Russian Zvezda module. According to Alexander Khokhlov, a member of the North-Western Organization of the Russian Federation of Cosmonautics, it could appear when the anthropomorphic robot Fedor was unloaded and loaded by astronauts in 2019.
He recalled that the cosmonauts moved the Fedor robot from the Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft to the station and back through the intermediate chamber in August-September 2019. Moreover, the transfer route of the robot was unplanned due to the fact that initially the ship was supposed to dock to the Search module, and not to the Zvezda module.
The Fyodor had to be dragged through a narrow intermediate chamber. Khokhlov pointed out that such an inaccurate movement of the android really “could lead to a crack in the case.”
Earlier, the Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov assured that the situation with an air leak does not create problems for the crew, which continues to work on a regular basis. An air leak from the ISS was recorded in September 2019. Subsequently, it was found out that the reason for which it appeared was a crack 4.5 centimeters long.