NASA Cancels International Space Station Evacuation Alert After Air Leak Assessment

NASA briefly ordered five astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to prepare for a possible evacuation after a worsening air leak was detected in Russia’s Zvezda service module. The astronauts were instructed to move into a docked SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft as a precaution while engineers evaluated the situation.

The alert lasted for about two hours before NASA and Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, determined there was no immediate danger to the crew. Astronauts were then cleared to return to normal operations aboard the station.

Russia Detects Two Leaks in Zvezda Module

Roscosmos reported that specialists identified two separate air leaks. One leak was sealed quickly, while preparations were made to repair the second. According to officials, the station’s systems remained stable and the crew was never in direct danger.

Repair Disagreement Led to Safe-Haven Order

NASA and Roscosmos have been discussing repair options for months. Tensions arose after Russian cosmonauts planned to use a saw to access the suspected crack, a method NASA questioned. The disagreement prompted mission controllers to activate safe-haven procedures.

The ISS currently hosts seven crew members, including NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway and Christopher Williams, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Russian cosmonauts Andrey Fedyaev, Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikayev.

Notably, astronauts have never been forced to evacuate the International Space Station during its 27-year operational history.