Russia appears set to finally address long-term, serious space station cracks
Russia appears set to finally address long-term, serious space station cracks
俄罗斯似乎终于准备好解决国际空间站长期存在的严重裂缝问题
Ten days ago, in a moment of very high drama in orbit, NASA directed its astronauts living on the International Space Station to briefly seek emergency refuge in a Crew Dragon spacecraft. Since then, neither the US space agency nor Roscosmos has provided additional public information about the situation in orbit. But according to sources who spoke to Ars, following the spectacle in space, the problem has been successfully fixed.
十天前，在轨道上发生了一幕极其惊险的时刻，美国国家航空航天局（NASA）指示其驻留在国际空间站的宇航员短暂进入“载人龙”飞船（Crew Dragon）寻求紧急避难。自那时起，无论是美国航天局还是俄罗斯国家航天集团（Roscosmos）都没有提供关于轨道上情况的更多公开信息。但据向《Ars Technica》透露消息的人士称，在经历了那场太空风波后，问题已得到成功解决。
At issue were persistent cracks in a small area of the International Space Station attached to the Russian Zvezda service module, known as the PrK module. The problem has been ongoing since 2019, and Russian astronauts have been attempting various fixes, often using a sealant called Germetall-1.
问题的核心在于国际空间站连接俄罗斯“星辰号”（Zvezda）服务舱的一个小区域内持续存在的裂缝，该区域被称为 PrK 舱。这个问题自 2019 年以来一直存在，俄罗斯宇航员曾尝试过各种修复方法，通常使用一种名为 Germetall-1 的密封剂。
These efforts finally appeared to bear fruit early this year, when Roscosmos reported that the leaks had stabilized. They resumed in May, though, and then increased in early June. That prompted Roscosmos to begin work toward a more extensive inspection and structural repair effort on the morning of Friday, June 5. A bland statement from Roscosmos offered no additional information.
这些努力在今年年初似乎终于有了成效，当时俄罗斯航天集团报告称泄漏情况已经稳定。然而，泄漏在 5 月份恢复，并在 6 月初加剧。这促使俄罗斯航天集团在 6 月 5 日星期五上午开始着手进行更广泛的检查和结构修复工作。俄罗斯航天集团随后发布的一份平淡声明没有提供任何额外信息。
But the solution Russian officials proposed on June 5 spooked NASA officials, prompting them to take the extreme step of securing their astronauts inside Dragon in case of a depressurization event on the space station. Later, Russia backed off, citing the need to conduct additional measurements and inspections of areas where leaks were occurring. “NASA strongly supported that decision, and as a result, following that decision, Crew-12 and Williams ended their safe haven activities and returned to normal operations aboard the orbiting laboratory,” the space agency said.
但俄罗斯官员在 6 月 5 日提出的解决方案让 NASA 官员感到惊恐，促使他们采取了极端措施，将宇航员安置在“龙”飞船内，以防空间站发生失压事件。后来，俄罗斯退缩了，称需要对泄漏区域进行额外的测量和检查。NASA 表示：“NASA 强烈支持这一决定，因此，在做出该决定后，Crew-12 机组人员和威廉姆斯（Williams）结束了避难活动，恢复了在轨道实验室的正常工作。”
To understand what has really been happening, Ars spoke with two NASA officials on background. So what really happened? The PrK module leads from the main area of the Russian segment of the space station to a docking port. Russian cosmonauts must pressurize the tunnel to access the Progress spacecraft that dock there and unload and stow cargo on the vehicles. The cracking issue in the PrK module’s structure is due to corrosion, and leaks occur inside the aging transfer tunnel when pressure is cycled up or down.
为了了解实际发生了什么，Ars 以背景采访的形式与两名 NASA 官员进行了交谈。那么到底发生了什么？PrK 舱是从空间站俄罗斯舱段的主要区域通往对接端口的通道。俄罗斯宇航员必须对该通道加压，才能进入停靠在那里的“进步号”（Progress）货运飞船，并进行货物卸载和装载。PrK 舱结构的裂缝问题是由腐蚀引起的，当压力循环升降时，老化的转运通道内部就会发生泄漏。
Although NASA has not publicly discussed the gravity of its concerns about the issue—presumably out of a desire to respect its Russian counterpart—the PrK module could break apart without much advance warning. Under pressure, the module could unzip and fail completely. A former astronaut and retired NASA official, Bob Cabana, described the issue in late 2024, saying, “NASA has expressed concerns about the structural integrity of the PrK and the possibility of a catastrophic failure.”
尽管 NASA 出于对俄罗斯合作伙伴的尊重，没有公开讨论其对该问题的严重担忧，但 PrK 舱可能会在没有太多预警的情况下解体。在压力作用下，该舱段可能会像拉链一样裂开并彻底失效。前宇航员、已退休的 NASA 官员鲍勃·卡巴纳（Bob Cabana）在 2024 年底描述该问题时曾表示：“NASA 对 PrK 的结构完整性以及发生灾难性故障的可能性表示担忧。”
This has been a persistent, behind-the-scenes dispute between NASA and Russian officials for years. Russia will say it has the situation under control, and then leak rates on the space station suggest otherwise. The new cracks discovered in early June brought the total to about 16. As leak rates rose, Russian officials informed NASA on Thursday, June 4, of plans to attempt physical repairs to the new leaks with a drill and a “drill stop” device to prevent drilling all the way through the module’s structure.
多年来，这一直是 NASA 和俄罗斯官员之间持续存在的幕后争端。俄罗斯方面声称局势在控制之中，但空间站的泄漏率却显示事实并非如此。6 月初发现的新裂缝使总数达到了约 16 处。随着泄漏率上升，俄罗斯官员在 6 月 4 日星期四通知 NASA，计划尝试用钻头和“限深钻孔”装置对新裂缝进行物理修复，以防止钻穿舱体结构。
NASA officials were deeply concerned about this because Roscosmos had not shown them an analysis of the problem or explained why their procedures to address the leaks would work. “We threatened we would put astronauts in suits, in Dragon, to send a message to world that we disagreed,” one NASA official told Ars. “They didn’t care.”
NASA 官员对此深感担忧，因为俄罗斯航天集团并未向他们展示问题分析，也没有解释其修复泄漏的程序为何有效。一位 NASA 官员告诉 Ars：“我们威胁说，如果他们一意孤行，我们将让宇航员穿上宇航服进入‘龙’飞船，向世界传达我们不同意的立场。但他们根本不在乎。”
The standoff continued into Friday morning, when Russian astronauts appeared to back off their plans, only to subsequently approach the PrK module with a saw and the intent to remove a load-bearing bracket. Meanwhile, Roscosmos officials continued to ignore communication with NASA officials on the ground. At this point, NASA directed Crew 12—US astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, French astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev into SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft—along with US astronaut Chris Williams, who had flown to the station in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
僵局一直持续到周五上午，当时俄罗斯宇航员似乎放弃了计划，但随后又带着锯子接近 PrK 舱，意图拆除一个承重支架。与此同时，俄罗斯航天集团官员继续无视与地面 NASA 官员的沟通。此时，NASA 指示 Crew-12 机组人员（美国宇航员杰西卡·梅尔、杰克·海瑟薇，法国宇航员索菲·阿德诺，以及俄罗斯宇航员安德烈·费佳耶夫）进入 SpaceX 的“载人龙”自由号飞船，同时进入的还有乘坐俄罗斯“联盟号”飞船抵达空间站的美国宇航员克里斯·威廉姆斯。
“We felt there was a very high probability of a bad outcome happening if they sawed that bracket off,” a NASA source said. NASA’s decision to send its astronauts into a safe haven prompted Roscosmos to finally back off. In the days since, there has been some additional back- and-forth, but Russia has now told NASA it will decommission the PrK module.
“我们认为，如果他们锯掉那个支架，发生糟糕结果的可能性非常高，”一位 NASA 消息人士说。NASA 将宇航员送入避难所的决定促使俄罗斯航天集团最终退缩。在此后的几天里，双方进行了一些额外的沟通，但俄罗斯现在已告知 NASA，将把 PrK 舱退役。
Effectively, this means cosmonauts will no longer enter the PrK module or attempt to pressurize it. Progress vehicles will still be able to use the docking port to transfer fluids or perform other functions, but Russia will need to use other ports to move supplies on board the space station. For NASA and the space station’s longevity, this agreement with Russia represents a significant step forward. For years, NASA has reluctantly accepted the risk of a rapid depressurization event on board the space station due to the PrK module’s issues. Now that risk should be retired.
实际上，这意味着宇航员将不再进入 PrK 舱或尝试对其加压。“进步号”飞船仍可使用该对接端口进行流体传输或执行其他功能，但俄罗斯将需要使用其他端口来向空间站运送物资。对于 NASA 和空间站的寿命而言，与俄罗斯达成的这项协议代表着向前迈出了重要一步。多年来，由于 PrK 舱的问题，NASA 一直不情愿地接受着空间站发生快速失压事件的风险。现在，这种风险应该可以消除了。