The oldest Russian module on the ISS may not survive until 2025: cracks were found in it

In September 2019, astronauts on the International Space Station recorded a minor air leak, which had grown markedly by August 2020. In the course of a detailed study, it was discovered that there is a crack in the intermediate chamber of the Russian Zvezda module, which was successfully repaired in March 2021. Soon, the cosmonauts noted that the air leak had noticeably decreased, but did not stop – as it turned out, the reason is the oldest Russian module on the ISS called Zarya – it was launched into orbit in November 1998 and is, in fact, the conditional foundation of the entire space station …

During the study of the ISS, the cosmonauts discovered several blind cracks in the Zarya – this was officially announced by Vladimir Solovyom, General Designer of the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation. Unfortunately, he did not provide information on plans to repair this module, but the designer said that he does not like the current position of the station – in the future, the cracks on the Zarya will increase.

Solovyom also added that the Russian modules on the ISS are quite worn out – 80% of all Zvezda systems, the service module that docked to Zarya in 2000, has long stepped over their warranty period of use, respectively, they can literally fail literally any time. Moreover, according to him, during the meeting of the Council of Chief Designers, no one gave an official guarantee that after 2025 the equipment at the station would not stop working. Accordingly, the functioning of the ISS after this period is in question.

“Everyone verbally convinces that nothing will break, but they don’t put signatures on the document. At the end of July, a meeting of the Presidium of the Scientific and Technical Council of Roscosmos was held, where it was noted that the station was on its way, ”Vladimir Solovyov commented on the situation.

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