Shocking photos show how NASA's decaying ISS has been leaking and cracking for years amid evacuation fears

From holes successful robotic limb to cracks successful nan window, astronauts person been complaining astir nan authorities of nan International Space Station (ISS) for years. 

A NASA report this week admitted that location are 50 'areas of concern' and 4 cracks that could lead to an emergency removal from nan ISS owed to it leaking oxygen. 

NASA warned that nan issues stemmed from 1 leak which reached its fastest maturation complaint yet successful April of this year. 

If nan unit makes nan daring flight it would beryllium nan first clip successful nan orbiting lab's 24-year history of lodging astronauts.

The first reported issues successful 2013 when a portion of abstraction debris caused a mini spread successful 1 of nan orbiting outpost's star panels. 

And 3 years later, an astronaut spotted a tiny, information fracture successful a model looking retired into nan blackness of space.

Astronauts person said that NASA has done very small to address nan emergence successful leaks connected committee nan ISS, but successful 2021 NASA denied claims that location were 'bad' cracks connected nan module, saying location were nary issues 'impacting unit aliases normal operations.'

Dozens of different leaks and cracks person since appeared, which person only been fixed utilizing typical tape, gauze and sealant. 

The existent rumor is located successful nan Russian Zvezda Service Module Transfer Tunnel that was installed successful 2000 and is utilized to location life support instrumentality and to entree a Russian cargo dock.

In 2019, nan module had begun to leak a mini magnitude of aerial done an unidentified crack. However, contempt efforts to seal nan module, nan magnitude of aerial escaping nan position has only accrued complete nan past 5 years.

Russia previously predicted that nan abstraction position would brushwood a 'cascade of failures' from 2025 onward because of its age.

The ISS became afloat operational successful May 2009, erstwhile it hosted a unit of six, but nan orbiting laboratory was not continuously parented until November 2, 2000. 

For much than a decade, nan vessel has been bombarded by mini meteors and abstraction debris that are chipping distant astatine its exterior. 

The nonstop origin of nan increasing aerial leak is unknown, but NASA and Roscosmos are focusing connected soul and outer welds arsenic a imaginable source.

Many of nan soul issues person stemmed from nan Russian broadside of nan ISS.

In December 2022, unexpected harm occurred connected nan Soyuz spacecraft attached to nan ISS, causing coolant to leak and rendered nan conveyance unsafe for nan return flight. 

The twelvemonth before, Bill Shepherd, who was a NASA astronaut from October 2000 to March 2001, said that nan cracks recovered connected nan ISS were a 'fairly superior issue' and claimed location could beryllium others that hadn't been found.

The ace was spotted successful nan Russian Zarya module.

Shepherd said nan cracks needed to beryllium resolved earlier Congress cleared nan ISS for operational usage beyond 2024.

ISS contractor Vladimir Solovyov said astatine nan clip that a number of 'superficial fissures' had been recovered connected Zarya.

This module is besides known arsenic nan 'Functional Cargo Block' and Solovyov said nan fissures had been uncovered successful a 'number of places.'

'This is bad and suggests that nan fissures will statesman to dispersed complete time,' Solovyov told Russian state-owned news agency RIA.

He added that a important information of nan instrumentality connected nan ISS is ageing.

NASA had vehemently denied nan claims that there were 'bad' cracks connected nan module, saying location were nary issues 'impacting unit aliases normal operations.'

In 2016, a portion of overgarment floating successful abstraction collided pinch a model connected nan ISS, creating a seven-millimeter spot successful nan stations Cupola.

'I americium often asked if nan International Space Station is deed by abstraction debris. Yes – this is nan spot successful 1 of our Cupola windows, gladsome it is quadruple glazed,' said European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Tim Peak, who was connected nan ISS.

To cater to specified possibilities, nan position is provided pinch extended shielding astir each captious unit and method areas, truthful that insignificant strikes, for illustration this one, airs nary threat.

Then successful 2018, a spread caused an oxygen leak connected nan ISS which nan Russian abstraction agency Roskosmos claimed was caused deliberately.

They initially thought nan harm was caused by a micrometeorite piercing nan spacecraft, but an anonymous root claimed nan spread was mistakenly drilled by a worker who sealed it alternatively of reporting nan error.

The mini spread was located and quickly sealed up, but nan Russian media speculated that a US astronaut mightiness person sabotaged nan spacecraft to hold a imaginable early return to Earth owed to nan alleged sickness of 1 personnel of nan ISS crew.

However, an investigation into nan incident didn't uncover what had caused nan hole.

The Canadarm2 robot arm, which keeps nan abstraction position decently maintained connected nan ISS, was struck by abstraction debris successful May 2021.

Fortunately, nan spread didn't origin immoderate awesome malfunctions.

The Canada Space Agency, which owns nan robotic arm, said astatine nan time: 'Results of nan ongoing study bespeak that nan arm's capacity remains unaffected. The harm is constricted to a mini conception of nan limb roar and thermal blanket.'

In 2023, 1 of nan Nauka Multipurpose Laboratory Module radiators knowledgeable a coolant leak and nan unit was asked to shutter nan US conception windows to forestall contamination to nan remainder of nan ISS.

The leak forced each spacewalks to beryllium postponed while nan backup radiator was isolated and inspected.

The latest rumor was first reported past month, contempt officials having been alert of nan ace connected Zveda since 2019 and while nan imaginable cracks person been covered pinch 'a operation of sealant and patches,' nan nonstop root of nan leak is unknown.

Astronauts person been alerted to enactment successful nan US conception erstwhile nan module is unfastened truthful they tin beryllium adjacent to their spacecraft successful lawsuit of an emergency evacuation, and they person been warned to only unfastened nan hatch erstwhile perfectly necessary.

And that's not nan only origin for concern, arsenic nan abstraction agency has warned that nan ISS is astatine consequence of being pelted pinch micro-meteors and abstraction debris.

An entity up to 1 centimeter successful size could disable an instrumentality aliases a captious formation strategy connected a satellite.

Anything supra 1 cm could penetrate nan shields of nan station's unit modules, and thing larger than 10 centimeters could shatter a outer aliases spacecraft into pieces.

There are estimated to beryllium much than 29,000 items of abstraction junk larger than 10 centimeters presently trapped successful Earth's orbit.

This includes aged motor parts, dormant satellites and different floating junk generated by abstraction missions aliases from collisions successful space.