NASA Offers Temporary Refuge for Space Station Astronauts in SpaceX’s Dragon Due to Leak Issues

On Friday, NASA temporarily placed five astronauts inside a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft docked at the International Space Station while Russian teams addressed a leaking service module.

Bethany Stevens, a NASA spokesperson, announced on X that the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, discovered more leaks in its service module, prompting an “extensive repair operation.”

“As a precaution, NASA has urged all four members of SpaceX Crew-12, along with NASA astronaut Chris Williams, to enhance their safety protocols inside the Dragon spacecraft during the repairs,” she stated. “We are working closely with our Russian partners and the wider international community to formulate a more sustainable solution.”

About an hour later, Stevens provided an update that Roscosmos had paused the repairs to reevaluate “additional measurements and data.”

“Given the current situation, NASA has instructed the crew aboard the Dragon spacecraft to lift their safety protocols and return to standard operations on the International Space Station.”

The Russian service module has been experiencing ongoing leakage issues. Stevens indicated on Friday that these cracks “have been a continuous concern that NASA is diligently monitoring.”

SpaceX has not yet commented on the situation.

Currently, the ISS is home to ten individuals: four (including two NASA astronauts, one from the European Space Agency, and one Russian cosmonaut) who arrived in February as part of the extended SpaceX Crew-12 mission, in addition to three others (a NASA astronaut and two cosmonauts) who reached the station last November via a Russian Soyuz mission.

The repair efforts and temporary safety protocols are occurring amid ongoing uncertainties regarding the future of the International Space Station. With new leadership under Jared Isaacman, NASA aims to replace the aging station with commercially manufactured modules over the next decade.

This article has been updated to reflect the conclusion of the sheltering procedure.