It may be necessary to close the American wing of the station
Avi Blizovsky
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The air pressure in the crew cabin on the International Space Station dropped again on Friday as crew members ruled out that the Russian-made air purifier was the cause of the mysterious leak.
Cosmonaut Alexander Clary found that the carbon dioxide removal unit was tight and the search for the culprit is expanding. Flight controllers in the US and Russia plan to ask Clary and astronaut Michael Powell to close the hatches of several devices - each time a different device.
The flight controllers are stressed by the fact that even though the pressure has dropped to 6.3 kilograms per cubic inch (6.45 cc), it is still safe for the crew and the operation of the station, but some devices may start to stop working if the pressure drops even more. The normal pressure on board the station is 6.6 kg per cubic inch, a level that has not been in the station since December 25.
Flight controllers focused on the air cleaners earlier this week as the possible source of the problem. If the source of the leak is not found by today (Sunday), the nitrogen stock will be renewed on Monday, bringing the pressure back to 6.43 kg per cubic inch.
On Wednesday, the American wing will be closed and separated from the Russian residential wing to try to locate the source of the pressure drop. Both parties will stay apart for example 4-5 days and this will cause great inconvenience.
The station managers will go over the entire list of equipment related to the air system. The main problematic item is a monitor for the air content that is authorized to be used only above 6.25 kilograms per cubic inch.
To reduce the pressure of public opinion, the people of the control center said that a pressure of 6.3 kilograms per cubic inch is like the atmospheric pressure in Oklahoma City. "There are many places on Earth where people live in much lower air pressure, including Las Vegas (6.12 kg), Denver and Mexico City with 5.4 kg per cubic inch.
The control center thanked the astronauts for the work and patience they showed in monitoring the air pressure and other problems during the past week.
Foal, the commander, and Clary are scheduled to remain at the station until the end of April. They arrived in October as the eighth team to be at the station for a long time. NASA has reduced the number of crew members on the station from 3 to 2 for the foreseeable future due to the grounding of the shuttles since the Columbia disaster, almost a year ago.
Yadan International Space Station
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