In September, the NASA Office of Inspector General (OIG) published a report on the leak in the Russian part of the ISS in the transfer compartment of the «Zvezda» module and expressed concern about its growth. Despite joint attempts with Roscosmos to eliminate the leak, it is still estimated «at 5 points on a five-point scale, according to NASA's internal risk assessments». This became known from a publication in The Washington Post of an interview with NASA representatives.
Despite the fact that there is currently no direct threat to American astronauts and other ISS inhabitants from problems on «Zvezda», the astronauts, as noted in the interview, stay on their side of the ISS. Thus, in the event of an emergency evacuation, they will be closer to their rescue vehicles.
We have repeatedly stated the seriousness of the leaks, including when I was in Russia earlier this year.
It is noted that from the Roscosmos side «all cracks were covered with a combination of sealant and patches» and work in this regard continues. The Russian side is actively cooperating, in particular, it has maximally closed one of the hatches, near which part of the leaks was located.
In general, the OIG is tracking four cracks and 50 other «problem areas» on the ISS. The structure is also responsible for monitoring other risks that may interfere with the continued operation of the ISS: from a sudden impact of micrometeorites to sudden problems with the supply of food and equipment from Earth.
It is assumed that the ISS will exist until 2030 both to meet NASA's staffing needs and to conduct commercial research in low Earth orbit. In the next decade, NASA hopes that a number of commercial space stations will be ready for launch.
Under a contract concluded by NASA with SpaceX, SpaceX was tasked with building a large Dragon-type spacecraft to deorbit the ISS.
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