WASHINGTON, June 5 - NASA directed five astronauts aboard the International Space Station to take shelter and ready themselves for potential evacuation on Friday after an air leak was reported in the Russian section of the orbital outpost. The agency later reversed that directive about two hours after issuing it and allowed the crew to return to normal station activities.
During the precautionary period, four crew members from NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission moved into the docked Dragon spacecraft. They were joined there by Chris Williams, a NASA astronaut serving as a flight engineer on the station’s Expedition 74 team.
The four Crew-12 members who sheltered in Dragon were:
- JESSICA MEIR, SPACECRAFT COMMANDER - American. Meir serves as commander of NASA’s Dragon spacecraft for the SpaceX Crew-12 mission. A native of Caribou, Maine, she was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2013. This mission is her second trip to space.
- JACK HATHAWAY, SPACECRAFT PILOT - American. Hathaway is the pilot for Dragon and is a U.S. Navy commander from South Windsor, Connecticut. This is his first spaceflight.
- SOPHIE ADENOT, MISSION SPECIALIST - French. Adenot is an astronaut with the European Space Agency. She was selected as an astronaut in 2022 after earning an engineering degree in Toulouse, France, and after service as a helicopter pilot and a design engineer.
- ANDREY FEDYAEV, MISSION SPECIALIST - Russian. A Roscosmos cosmonaut, Fedyaev is on his second long-duration stay in space. He previously spent 186 days in orbit as an Expedition 69 flight engineer in 2023.
The wider Expedition 74 crew, which began on December 8 and was scheduled to conclude this summer, includes:
- CHRIS WILLIAMS, FLIGHT ENGINEER - American. Williams is a NASA astronaut serving as a flight engineer for Expedition 74.
- SERGEY KUD-SVERCHKOV, COMMANDER - Russian. A Roscosmos cosmonaut, Kud-Sverchkov is commander of the Expedition 74 crew.
- SERGEI MIKAEV, FLIGHT ENGINEER - Russian. Mikaev is a cosmonaut serving as a flight engineer for Expedition 74.
According to the timeline reported, the initial shelter-in-place directive was issued as the Russian crew worked to address the air leak on their side of the laboratory. After approximately two hours, NASA lifted the precautionary order and informed the crew they could return to the station.
The incident prompted a temporary shift in station operations while repair efforts were underway and while contingency preparations were observed.
Summary
Five astronauts were ordered to shelter and prepare for possible evacuation after an air leak was detected on the Russian segment of the ISS. Four Crew-12 astronauts and Expedition 74 flight engineer Chris Williams sheltered in the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. Russian crew members attempted repairs and NASA rescinded the shelter order roughly two hours later.
Key points
- Precautionary shelter order issued for five ISS astronauts while Russian crew worked to fix an air leak; order rescinded about two hours later.
- Four Crew-12 astronauts and Expedition 74 flight engineer Chris Williams sheltered inside the docked Dragon spacecraft during the incident.
- The Expedition 74 mission began December 8 and was planned to conclude this summer, with Sergey Kud-Sverchkov serving as commander.
Risks and uncertainties
- Potential need for crew evacuation if repairs had failed or the leak had worsened - relevant to space operations and crew-safety protocols.
- Uncertainty over repair duration and any subsequent operational impacts to Expedition 74’s schedule or activities.