International Space Station has CRACKS! NASA rushes help to avoid tragedy

In a big development, it was revealed the International Space Station, which is flying in the sky high above the Earth, has developed cracks that can have tragic consequences for astronauts on board.

The International Space Station has cracks through which air is leaking, but the Russian space agency says there is no risk to the astronauts (cosmonauts). NASA is helping Russia find the cracks. The danger is that the cracks could start to expand or are expanding already and in the event of an emergency, the Earth is too far away to be of any help. The cracks are limited to the Russian side of the ISS only. (NASA)

Moscow [Russia], September 27 (ANI/Sputnik): Engineers from the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are helping Russia in its investigation into the possible causes of cracks and air leaks at the International Space Station (ISS).

Paul Hill, a member of NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, said at a Sunday panel meeting that the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, the Langley Research Center, the panel itself and the Boeing company are all conducting engineering analyzes of the issue.

According to Russian Rocket and Space Corporation Energia, persistent air leaks on the ISS could be the result of welding errors made inside the Zarya and Zvezda modules three decades ago.

Energia's First Deputy General Designer Vladimir Soloviev told Sputnik at the end of last month that Russian cosmonauts found cracks in the oldest module of the ISS, Zarya, and warned that the earlier discovery of through cracks in the Zvezda module means that the Zarya cracks could start to expand.

Soloviev said that Russian cosmonauts were going to install highly sensitive vibration sensors inside the Russian segment of the ISS in the hope of finding the cause of air leaks.

A small air leak was first detected at the ISS in September 2019. The crew have since identified and sealed two cracks but air continues to leak, which, nonetheless, poses no threat to those on board the space station, according to Russia's space agency Roscosmos.