A recent NASA Report Concern has been raised again regarding this leakage. The report said that in April 2024, this leakage reached 1.7 kg daily. NASA seems satisfied with the repair work being done to deal with this, but wants a permanent solution.
The reason for air leakage has not been known yet. Apart from NASA, Russian space agency Roscosmos is investigating internal and external weldings on the ISS.
What are the astronauts doing right now?
To ensure that air leaks do not have much impact, astronauts keep the area closed from where air is leaking the most. One goes there only for important work.
It is noteworthy that America and Russia are joint partners of the International Space Station (ISS). However, there is some disagreement between the two regarding this leakage. If there is no permanent solution to the leakage, then the area from where air is leaking can be closed permanently. If this happens, Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft will not be able to dock on the ISS in future.
Air leaks aren’t just a challenge. NASA has many more challenges on the ISS. He also faces challenges in supply chain and spare parts. NASA wants that somehow the ISS should be operational by this decade. Anyway, between the years 2028 and 2030, it will be destroyed by falling back into the Earth’s atmosphere.