NASA astronauts are preparing for an emergency evacuation

NASA updated today (Friday) that astronauts aboard the International Space Station were instructed to lock themselves in their spacecraft and prepare for a possible evacuation. This, following a serious air leak in the Russian part of the station. After repair attempts, NASA updated that the astronauts can return to routine.

The four astronauts of NASA’s Crew-12 mission on the station – two American astronauts, a French astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut – were instructed by NASA’s mission control to enter the Crew Dragon spacecraft and don their spacesuits, in case the air leak caused an emergency evacuation.

NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos, the two main operators of the station, have been discussing for months the cause of small air leaks in the Russian part – a central structure in the laboratory the size of a football field. The air leaks have been relatively minor in recent months, but they escalated this week, according to a senior NASA official who asked not to be identified.