International Space Station astronauts resume normal duties after evacuation order

Astronauts onboard the International Space Station have been told to return to normal duties after previously being on evacuation alert due to a worsening air leak.

The four astronauts of Nasa’s Crew-12 mission on the station – two US astronauts, a French astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut – received orders from Nasa mission control at 9.04am ET (2.04pm BST) on Friday to enter their Crew Dragon spacecraft docked to the station and don their spacesuits in case the air leak warranted an emergency evacuation, a Nasa official said.

But on Friday afternoon a Nasa spokesperson, Bethany Stevens, announced that Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, had paused structural repairs as measurements and data is assessed.

In a post on X she said: “Given this development, Nasa has instructed the crew members inside the Dragon spacecraft to end the safe haven procedures and return to planned operations aboard the International Space Station. We look forward to working with Roscosmos on a collaborative approach to address the leaks.”

Nasa and Roscosmos, the station’s two primary operators, have debated for months over the cause and potential fixes of small air leaks onboard Russia’s Zvezda service module, a key structure of the football-pitch-sized laboratory.

The air leaks have been relatively minor in recent months. But on Monday the problem escalated from one pound of air a day to two pounds (0.9kg), a senior Nasa official told Reuters.

According to Russia’s Interfax news, Roscosmos said its experts had detected two oxygen leaks aboard the ISS but there was no immediate threat to the crew.

The first leak was quickly sealed, and preparations were under way to seal the second one, Roscosmos said.