A production error could become a possible cause of leakage in the Russian module of the ISS “Star”. The wrong welding seam could not withstand long-term operation, said RIA Novosti, General Designer of the Rocket and Space Corporation “Energy”, head of the Russian segment of the ISS, Cosmonaut, twice Hero of the Soviet Union Vladimir Soloviev.
According to him, when welding, the connecting seams could remarre. In this case, the location of the parts of the aluminum and magnesium alloy becomes porous after a long time in weightlessness. An error of the welder, which was delayed in one place of the connection for longer, could be given.
“Also on the welding seam affect vibrations and resonance, which can be lifted to air leakage,” said Solovyov.
Air leakage on the ISS was found in 2019 – later it turned out that oxygen leaves from the “Star” intermediate chamber. In 2021, Russian astronauts embarked two cracks, but the leakage continued. In July, NASA representatives said that astronauts identified possible leakage sites – three plots were embedded with sealant, but oxygen continued to leave the ISS.
The representative of the North-West Organization of the Cosmonautics Federation Alexander Khokhlov suggested that the crack appeared due to the movement of the Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research (Fedor) robot. “” Fedor “moved through an unplanned route through an intermediate chamber”, “Khokhlov said. Later, his words denied the head of “Roskosmos” Dmitry Rogozin.