NASA monitors safety risks on International Space Station as leaks raise evacuation concerns

NASA is closely monitoring 50 areas of concern in the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS) due to leaks and cracks that threaten astronaut safety. All seven astronauts are currently confined to the US side of the station. In case of an emergency, astronauts would evacuate to their assigned spacecraft, including SpaceX's Dragon and Russian Soyuz. NASA has a plan for evacuation, but it lacks sufficient ready-to-launch vehicles, which could complicate the situation. The main leak, identified in the Zvezda module, has been ongoing since 2019 and has worsened over time. NASA has patched the leak multiple times, but air loss has increased, raising safety concerns about the ISS's habitability.