Media

NASA Puts ISS Astronauts on Evacuation Alert As Air Leak Worsens
By Reuters | 05 Jun, 2026

Two US astronauts, a French astronaut and Russian cosmonaut were ordered by NASA this morning to enter their Crew Dragon spacecraft docked to the station and don their spacesuits to prepare for emergency evacuation.

FILE PHOTO: NASA’s Crew-12 members, Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, NASA astronauts Jack Hathaway, Jessica Meir, and ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot walk out of the Operations & Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center before transport to Launch Complex 40, ahead of their launch to the International Space Station, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., February 13, 2026. REUTERS/Steve Nesius/File Photo

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station were ordered by NASA to shelter in their spacecraft and prepare for potential evacuation on Friday as a Russian crew attempts to fix a worsening leak of air on its portion of the orbital laboratory, NASA said.

The four astronauts of NASA's Crew-12 mission on the station - two U.S. astronauts, a French astronaut and Russian cosmonaut - got orders from NASA mission control at 9:04 a.m. ET Monday (1304 GMT) to enter their Crew Dragon spacecraft docked to the station and don their spacesuits in case the air leak warrants an emergency evacuation, a NASA official said.

NASA and Russia's space agency Roscosmos, the station's two primary operators, have debated for months over the cause and potential fixes of small air leaks aboard Russia's Zvezda service module, a key structure of the football field-sized laboratory.

The air leaks have been relatively minor in recent months but escalated on Monday from a pound of air per day to two pounds, according to a senior NASA official who asked not to be named.

(Reporting by Joey Roulette; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Joe Brock and Nick Zieminski)