The International Space Station (ISS), a habitable artificial satellite, was twitched by a micrometeorite and started leaking. Observing a sudden drop in the pressure, the mission flight controllers, in Houston and Moscow, found a 2mm hole in the Russian section of the station.
Alexander Gerst, an astronaut at the European Space Agency (ESA), clogged the gap by his finger and then used a duct tape for covering the hole that prevented more air leaking into space. If that leak would have plugged into, it would have taken only 18 days for the air to diminish off.
The live feed from the ISS stated: “Right now Alex has got his finger on that hole and I don’t think that’s the best remedy of it.” Shortly after, two Russian spacemen stuck a cloth surmounted with a sealant. Simultaneously, the flight controllers supervised the cabin pressure for discerning of a better and chronic solution.
An ESA spokesman said, “Last night International Space Station mission control noticed a reduction of pressure. This morning the crew gathered in the Russian segment of the Space Station before searching for the cause of the pressure change.”
“The crew are healthy and safe with weeks of air left in the International Space Station reserves. Programme officials and flight controllers are continuing to monitor the situation as the crew works through its troubleshooting procedures.”
Astronomy experts have been warning since years about the probable hit by the junk orbiting the Earth, posing a grave danger to the ISS. However, this is the first substantial damage which has been caused.
