ISS Crew Shelters in SpaceX Dragon as Cosmonauts Work to Seal Air Leak
Summary: On June 5, 2026, NASA directed the four members of SpaceX Crew-12 and NASA astronaut Chris Williams to shelter inside the docked SpaceX Dragon capsule as a precautionary measure. At the same time, Russian cosmonauts conducted a spacewalk to patch a leak in the Progress cargo spacecraft transfer tunnel (PrK), which connects the Progress vehicle to the Zvezda service module. The leak has been a known issue for years.
Event timeline
According to space.com and Spaceflight Now, NASA detected a change in the ISS leak rate on June 5 and decided to have the Crew-12 astronauts—Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Sophie Adenot, and Andrey Fedyaev—along with NASA astronaut Chris Williams, enter the docked SpaceX Dragon capsule and wait. This was a precautionary shelter-in-place order, not an emergency evacuation.
Meanwhile, Russian cosmonauts performed an extravehicular activity to locate and patch the leak in the PrK transfer tunnel. This tunnel connects the Progress cargo spacecraft to the Zvezda service module, and the leak has been known for several years. In April, the leak rate in this area rose from about 0.6 kg/day to 1.4 kg/day, drawing renewed attention. The goal of this spacewalk was to reduce the leak rate to below 0.3 kg/day.
Background
The structural aging of the International Space Station has become an increasing concern in recent years. In addition to the Zvezda service module leak, other modules have shown varying degrees of wear. NASA and Roscosmos have been coordinating response plans, though the two agencies have differed on repair priorities and resource allocation. This combined shelter-and-spacewalk operation shows that, even as the ISS approaches retirement, the partners are still working to maintain safe operations.