Breaking! International Space Station astronauts under evacuation orders over air leak

[malaise]

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/jun/05/international-space-station-astronauts-under-evacuation-orders

Astronauts onboard the International Space Station have been ordered to shelter in their spacecraft and prepare for potential evacuation as a Russian crew attempts to fix a worsening leak of air in its portion of the orbital laboratory, Nasa has said.

The four astronauts of Nasa’s Crew-12 mission on the station – two US astronauts, a French astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut – got orders from Nasa mission control at 9.04am ET (2pm BST) on Friday to enter their Crew Dragon spacecraft docked to the station and don their spacesuits in case the air leak warranted an emergency evacuation, a Nasa official said.

[GreenWave]

1. I wonder if some space debris caused the leak?

[malaise]

2. Way above my paygrade

Hope they stay safe

[Johonny]

3. Its operating way past its expected and intended

Lifetime.

[GreenWave]

4. I guess Voyagers I and II have spoiled me.

[LuvLoogie]

12. No life support on the V-gers

[durablend]

5. Probably one of Leon's junk hit it

[GreenWave]

6. What I would guess too.

[Johonny]

7. They operate below the space station

[Manatee]

8. Other way

around

[whopis01]

20. No - they are about 50 to 90 miles above the space station. n/t

[PCIntern]

9. Trump Administration Press Release :

This is fake news. There is no air leak in our big, beautiful Space Station. If anything, there was too much oxygen and it had to be released in order that clean carbon dioxide levels could be maintained.

[ChicagoTeamster]

10. They need to fire up the coal powered oxygen generator

[PCIntern]

11. A beautiful machine serviced by

Big muscular men with legs like tree trunks and tears in their eyes

[ChicagoTeamster]

24. And they don't need no stinkin oxygen. Oxygen is for woke wussies

[The Madcap]

26. Who always say "Sir..."

[popsdenver]

29. PC, I am very upset with you

You caught me off guard, and I nearly sprayed my computer with a mouthful of coffee......

Your comment was funny, except you know, it shouldn't be funny at all, because it is the truth......

[Nelg]

13. Bowie

Ground control to major Tom

[SergeStorms]

14. Something like this was inevitable.

There's so much man-made space junk floating around, not to mention the billions of tiny leftovers from the creation of the universe, that floating around 250 miles above the earth, in orbit, something was bound to hit the ISS sooner ot later.

I hope they repair the ISS and don't have to abandon ship.

[Shipwack]

15. "This is how we fix problems..."

?si=tnB685PsfsT3OqBE

[Kid Berwyn]

25. Works for BMW.

Freaking blower fan used to hum all the time…

[paleotn]

27. Chernobyl

"Liquidators." I've assumed that's a relatively good translation of the original Russian.

"I want you to go out there and clean up all those pieces of highly radioactive graphite. But only for a set number of minutes. Stay out any longer and you'll die a horrible, painful death. Within that time limit, you may still die a horrible, painful death. Here's some cheap ass tools. Now get to work." "Yeah, OK."

[Emile]

16. Put flex-tape patches on the cracks, and it'll be good for another 20 years. Problem solved!

[Dr. T]

17. Duct tape. Works great.

Ask Red Green about it.

[muriel_volestrangler]

19. Ask the Apollo astronauts

Duct Tape Auto Repair on the Moon

When most people think of emergency fixes in space, the first incident that comes to mind is the famous Apollo 13 mission. The astronauts fashioned duct tape and surplus materials into air filtration canisters in the lunar module to keep all three astronauts alive for the entire trip home. You might remember the story from the 1995 Ron Howard film Apollo 13.

An ABC News poll conducted in 2005 asked over a thousand people if they kept duct tape in their emergency kits, 86% of the people polled said they did. NASA is by no means an exception. In fact, labeled officially by NASA as ‘Tape’ in the official stowage lists, every Apollo mission from 11 to 17 carried duct tape with them to the Moon (see page 8 of the Apollo 17 stowage list). Perhaps less known than the Apollo 13 incident, the Apollo 17 mission also owes much to ordinary duct tape.

The Apollo 17 mission left Earth on December 7, 1972 and arrived at the Moon on December 9. Commander Eugene “Gene” Cernan and Lunar Module pilot Harrison “Jack” Schmitt explored the lunar surface while Ron Evans remained in the Command Module, America. While on the surface, Cernan and Schmitt deployed various science experiments across their landing site, making essential use of their Lunar Rover Vehicle (LRV).
...
Following the first EVA, while the Apollo 17 astronauts slept, John Young, Charlie Duke, Deke Slayton, Roco Patrone, and Ronald Blevins in Houston came up with a solution. They were challenged with creating a replacement fender with only the materials that the astronauts had on the Moon, knowing that without the fender, the LRV would be practically useless for the rest of the mission. Their solution was to attach four of the 28 lunar maps with what Cernan would later call, “good old-fashioned American gray tape,” carried on board. The maps could be configured in a way that would resemble the fender extension and affixed to the fender with two clamps from the optical alignment telescope.

https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/duct-tape-auto-repair-moon

[2MuchNoise]

18. Do they have any chewing gum onboard?

[barbtries]

21. Clicking on the link, it's updated:

International Space Station astronauts resume normal duties after evacuation order
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/jun/05/international-space-station-astronauts-under-evacuation-orders

so that's a relief.

[malaise]

22. Great news

Rec

[muriel_volestrangler]

31. NASA was not impressed with the Russians' proposed method of fixing it, involving a saw

But it was the method they were planning to use that prompted the order to take shelter, according to news agency Reuters.

Kud-Sverchkov and Mikayev were said to be using a saw to try and get into an area to access the crack that was leaking air.

Nasa disagreed with the method they were using and mission control in Houston ordered five crew to take "safe-haven" procedures on the Dragon ship.

When Roscosmos told their crew to pause repairs, Nasa instructed the astronauts to return to the station.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y7yryg01mo

[malaise]

33. Thanks for this

Rec

[BaronChocula]

34. Hearkens back to a terrible movie

I recall watching "Armageddon" with a scene in which the Russian crew member of an orbiter takes a hammer to some equipment to fix a problem. I guess some stereotypes are true.

[surfered]

23. Scary stuff!

[littlemissmartypants]

28. Sabotage by way of Putin wouldn't surprise me.

Shut it down like everything else. Pretty soon, we'll be rolling up the streets, and no one will remember American and what we paid taxes for at all.

All those savings, straight to the oligarchs.

We're being robbed and shut down as if a pack of Venture Capitalists rolled up in their SUVs to DC and told the rest of us, "Come close, and we'll shoot to kill."

[BaronChocula]

32. My first thought

Great minds...

[TalenaGor]

30. feels like an episode of For All Mankind

[BidenRocks]

35. Are there any useable airlocks inside?

I've seen cable runs preventing door closures.

[malaise]

36. Way above my paygrade

I don’t have a clue