Uh-oh, the International Space Station is leaking again

糟糕，国际空间站又漏气了

NASA confirmed Thursday that the Russian segment of the International Space Station has begun leaking atmosphere into space again. It’s an old problem that NASA recently hoped was resolved. 美国国家航空航天局（NASA）周四证实，国际空间站的俄罗斯舱段再次开始向太空泄漏大气。这是一个NASA近期曾希望已经解决的旧问题。

For more than half a decade, engineers from Roscosmos and NASA have been tracking the leak rate from a small Russian module attached to the space station that leads to a docking port. The source of these leaks, microscopic structural cracks, have been difficult to find and address. 在过去五年多的时间里，俄罗斯国家航天集团（Roscosmos）和NASA的工程师一直在追踪连接空间站并通往对接舱的一个小型俄罗斯模块的泄漏率。这些泄漏的源头——微观结构裂缝——一直难以发现和修复。

In January, NASA said that after multiple inspections and sealant applications, the pressure inside this segment, known as the PrK module, had reached a “stable configuration.” The PrK module is essentially a transfer tunnel attached to the Zvezda Service Module on the Russian segment of the space station. This announcement by NASA was greeted by a sigh of relief in the space community, as atmospheric leaks on a pressure vessel like the International Space Station are never a good thing. 今年1月，NASA表示，经过多次检查和密封剂涂抹，该舱段（被称为PrK模块）内部的压力已达到“稳定状态”。PrK模块本质上是连接在空间站俄罗斯舱段“星辰号”（Zvezda）服务舱上的一个过渡隧道。NASA的这一声明让航天界松了一口气，因为像国际空间站这样的压力容器发生大气泄漏绝非好事。

Leaks begin again

泄漏再次发生

Unfortunately, the leak returned three weeks ago. After a couple of sources reported this to Ars, NASA confirmed the issue on Thursday. On May 1, after Russian cosmonauts unloaded cargo from the Progress 95 cargo spacecraft, Roscosmos noted a “slow pressure drop” in the PrK module. 不幸的是，泄漏在三周前再次出现。在多个消息来源向Ars报告此事后，NASA于周四证实了该问题。5月1日，在俄罗斯宇航员从“进步号”95号货运飞船卸下货物后，俄罗斯航天集团注意到PrK模块出现了“缓慢的压力下降”。

“Teams performed data analysis, which indicated a loss of about one pound per day,” NASA spokesperson Josh Finch told Ars. “Roscosmos allowed the pressure in the transfer tunnel to gradually decrease while monitoring the rate. The area now is being maintained at a lower pressure, with small repressurizations as needed. There are no impacts to station operations, and NASA and Roscosmos are coordinating on next steps.” “团队进行了数据分析，结果显示每天损失约一磅压力，”NASA发言人乔什·芬奇（Josh Finch）告诉Ars。“俄罗斯航天集团允许过渡隧道的压力逐渐降低，同时监测其速率。该区域目前维持在较低压力下，并根据需要进行小幅增压。这对空间站的运行没有影响，NASA和俄罗斯航天集团正在协调后续步骤。”

Although there is no impact on astronauts aboard the station, nor any immediate concerns about the station’s health, the returning leak issue raises new questions about the long-term viability of the ISS. 尽管这对空间站上的宇航员没有影响，也没有对空间站的健康状况产生直接担忧，但再次出现的泄漏问题引发了关于国际空间站长期生存能力的新质疑。

High risk, high consequence

高风险，高后果

In the past, NASA officials have downplayed the severity of the leak risks publicly and in meetings with external stakeholders of the ISS. Internally, however, there appears to be greater concern. The space agency uses a 5×5 “risk matrix” to classify the likelihood and consequences of risks to spaceflight activities, and the Russian leaks have been classified as a “5” on both high likelihood and high consequence. Their potential for “catastrophic failure” is discussed in meetings. 过去，NASA官员在公开场合以及与国际空间站外部利益相关者的会议中，一直淡化泄漏风险的严重性。然而，在内部，似乎存在更大的担忧。该航天机构使用5×5的“风险矩阵”来评估航天活动风险的可能性和后果，而俄罗斯舱段的泄漏在“高可能性”和“高后果”两项指标上都被评为“5级”。会议中也讨论了其导致“灾难性故障”的可能性。

Despite its dwindling budget, Roscosmos has managed the problem over the last several years largely by keeping the hatch to the PrK module closed to the rest of the station. It was thought that the issue could be similarly managed through 2030, when the space station was due to be retired. However, NASA and the US Congress are now considering extending the space station’s lifespan to at least 2032, if not longer. The reemergence of cracking on the space station—some of its modules have now been in space for nearly three decades—calls into question whether continually extending its operation is a viable long-term strategy. 尽管预算不断缩减，但俄罗斯航天集团在过去几年里主要通过保持PrK模块与空间站其他部分之间的舱门关闭来管理这一问题。人们曾认为，这个问题可以以同样的方式管理到2030年空间站退役。然而，NASA和美国国会目前正在考虑将空间站的寿命延长至至少2032年，甚至更久。空间站裂缝的再次出现——其部分模块在太空中已服役近三十年——让人质疑持续延长其运行是否是一个可行的长期战略。

Can NASA keep extending ISS into perpetuity?

NASA能无限期延长国际空间站的寿命吗？

NASA must win international partner support for these extensions, including from Russia. The agency’s decision-making is further complicated by the desire to continue flying the station until private replacements are ready. The US space agency has struggled to find a viable path forward with “commercial” space stations, a plan in which NASA would help fund development of one or more private space stations while also agreeing to be one of several customers with its astronauts. NASA必须赢得国际合作伙伴对这些延期的支持，包括俄罗斯。由于希望在私人替代方案准备好之前继续运行空间站，该机构的决策变得更加复杂。美国航天局在“商业”空间站方面一直难以找到可行的前进道路，该计划旨在由NASA资助一个或多个私人空间站的开发，同时同意作为其宇航员的客户之一。

In March, NASA proposed a revised plan for these commercial space stations at its Ignition event, which included private firms docking initial modules to the International Space Station, but it has not been particularly well-received. The commercial companies are wary about NASA’s discussions to extend the station’s lifespan because they say they will be ready by 2030. 今年3月，NASA在其Ignition活动上提出了这些商业空间站的修订计划，其中包括私人公司将初始模块与国际空间站对接，但该计划并未受到特别欢迎。商业公司对NASA关于延长空间站寿命的讨论持谨慎态度，因为他们表示到2030年他们就已经准备好了。

Phil McAlister, NASA’s former director of commercial spaceflight, said the agency would be best served by fully supporting the development of commercial space stations and working with the private companies to ensure they are ready by 2030. “This further confirms the wisdom of the current policy of retiring the ISS in 2030 and replacing it with more modern, more cost-effective, and safer commercial platforms,” McAlister told Ars. NASA前商业航天飞行主任菲尔·麦卡利斯特（Phil McAlister）表示，该机构最好的做法是全力支持商业空间站的开发，并与私人公司合作，确保它们在2030年准备就绪。“这进一步证实了目前在2030年让国际空间站退役，并以更现代、更具成本效益和更安全的商业平台取而代之的政策是明智的，”麦卡利斯特告诉Ars。