Overview
- On June 5 NASA directed five astronauts to take refuge in a docked SpaceX Crew Dragon after Russian crews prepared invasive repairs in the PrK vestibule of the Zvezda module.
- Roscosmos paused the cutting and drilling plans following NASA's shelter‑in‑place order and ongoing safety objections from U.S. officials.
- Multiple outlets report that Russia may now decommission the PrK by sealing its hatch, a step that would isolate the leak and stop most air loss but close one docking route.
- The leak has grown since it was first traced in September 2019 and now vents roughly two pounds of air per day, a rate that prompted NASA to rank it among the station's top risks.
- If the PrK is sealed, partners would reroute crew and cargo transfers to other ports, keep some fluid transfers via docked Progress vehicles, and may shift reboosts and heavy pushing to U.S. vehicles carrying extra propellant.