Cracks are starting to appear on the International Space Station (ISS), according to Bill Shepherd, a retired NASA astronaut.
Russian cosmonauts discovered cracks in the Zarya module of the station. In August, Vladimir Solovyov (flight director for the Russian segment) publicly announced the discovery.
NASA states that the cracks aren't a threat to astronauts at the moment. Insider was also told last month by the agency that no one had found "new potential leaks" on the station.
Shepherd, however, told congressional representatives Tuesday that there are "probably other cracks we've not found yet."
Shepherd stated, "As far I know, the Russian engineers as well as the NASA engineers that have analyzed it don't really understand why these cracks appear now."
Shepherd has been to orbit on four Space Shuttles. Shepherd was a member of the International Space Station Program during the launch of its first modules. He also commanded the crew that reached the station in 2000. At the hearing, he stated that he had learned more about the cracks during two meetings of NASA's ISS Advisory Committee. He recently joined.
Shepherd stated that the cracks look almost like scratches on the aluminum plate's surface.
NASA did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
"This is bad"
Shepherd stated to the House committee that the cracks in the concrete are not severe enough at the moment to be considered a serious problem.
According to a Reuters translation of his statement, Solovyov said last month that he believed the state-owned news agency RIA was wrong.
Solovyov didn't share the extent of the cracks at that time.
Shepherd did not say whether Russia and NASA plan to continue investigating cracks beyond what they have already done.
Both space agencies have been slow in the past when investigating and repairing problems that do not threaten astronaut safety or disrupt ISS operations.
The space station is becoming obsolete
The ISS has been orbiting Earth since 2000, and is showing signs of age. Russia's space station has some of its oldest components. The cracks are the latest of a series of problems in those modules.
The toilet on the segment was destroyed, temperatures rose mysteriously, and an oxygen-supply system failed.
Zvezda (a space-station module that provides living quarters to the cosmonauts) began leaking air in September 2019. The astronauts were able to find the leak and repair it using Kapton tape.
Russian media reported previously that Solovyov said to the Russian Academy of Sciences that "there are already a few elements that have been severely damaged and are out of use." Many of these elements are unreplaceable. We predict that many elements aboard the ISS will fail in an avalanche-like fashion after 2025.
Even Russia's newest spacecraft, Nauka (or Russia's latest module), which was launched to the ISS in July, has had serious issues. Nauka started firing its thrusters shortly after docking to the station. The entire ISS spun around 540 degrees before it flipped upside down. Flight controllers regained control of the station an hour later.
NASA has enough funds to continue operating the ISS until 2024. It is aiming to extend Congress' authority to allow the station to continue its operations through 2028.
Shepherd stated that NASA should first resolve the mystery surrounding the Zarya module’s new cracks.
Soyuz spacecraft docking to the ISS Zarya Module, 2009 (NASA).
Shepherd stated that "Getting to the bottom" of this matter is a serious problem. Shepherd said, "I don’t believe the station is in any immediate danger. We need to be more clear about this before we remove the station from operational use for another few years.
NASA will eventually retire the ISS and send it into the atmosphere for burning up. NASA won't build another station after that. Instead, it is looking for private companies to take over.
The company is currently reviewing about 12 space-station proposals from different companies. It hopes to distribute $400 million between two to four of these proposals.
NASA hopes to become one of the many commercial customers for private space stations.
Axiom Space has been awarded $140 million by the agency to fly modules to the ISS. They will then detach from the ISS to create their own space station. Axiom plans to launch its first module on the ISS by 2024.
China launched its first space station piece earlier in the year and the first three-month mission of astronauts was completed last week.
Business Insider originally published this article.
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