NASA Orders ISS Astronauts to Shelter in SpaceX Dragon During PrK Air Leak Repairs

On Friday, June 5, NASA ordered five astronauts on the International Space Station to shelter in a docked SpaceX Dragon capsule for roughly two hours while Russian cosmonauts attempted repairs on the Zvezda service module’s transfer tunnel known as PrK.

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The shelter order affected the four members of SpaceX Crew-12—Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Sophie Adenot, and Andrey Fedyaev—plus NASA astronaut Chris Williams, who had been on the orbital laboratory for 190 days.

Al Jazeera

NASA Press Secretary Bethany Stevens said the decision was made “out of an abundance of caution” as Roscosmos pursued a more extensive repair operation after new leaks were detected.

Roscosmos later paused the structural repair efforts inside PrK “while more measurements and data is assessed,” and NASA instructed the crew inside Dragon to end safe-haven procedures and return to planned operations aboard the ISS.

NASA said the PrK tunnel has been plagued by air leaks from cracks in its hull for several years, and Stevens wrote on X that “the cracks have always been a concern that NASA watches very closely.”

Al Jazeera reported that Stevens said the Zvezda service module tunnel had suffered “from cracks and leaks for some time,” and that Roscosmos elected to proceed with a more extensive repair operation on Friday, June 5.

Astronomy Magazine

SpaceNews described how, after the shelter order, controllers told the astronauts they could exit the Dragon when Roscosmos opted not to proceed with the repairs and instead took measurements for later assessment.

Roscosmos said it detected two leaks during the process, with one sealed and the other still under work, and the agency insisted that “there was no threat to the spacecraft’s systems or those on board.”

NASA’s shelter order centered on the PrK transfer tunnel, where permanent closure would mean the loss of one of four Russian docking ports and would complicate cargo resupply, according to Astronomy Magazine.

“NASA has told crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to resume normal operations, ending a roughly two-hour period in which five astronauts sheltered inside a docked SpaceX capsule”

Astronomy Magazine

The same source said the leak’s roots go back to at least 2021, when a small pressure drop first flagged a problem in PrK, and it noted that by November 2024 ISS Advisory Committee Cchair Bob Cabana said NASA had expressed concerns about structural integrity and the possibility of catastrophic failure.

SpaceNews reported that NASA and Roscosmos had not settled on a root cause for the leaks and disagreed on the severity of the issue, and it added that NASA was concerned Roscosmos was not adhering to protocols established last August to lower the pressure in PrK when not in use.

With the immediate safe-haven procedures ended after Roscosmos paused repairs, the next step described in the sources was continued assessment of “more measurements and data” and ongoing work “to arrive at a more permanent resolution.”