ISS astronauts use tea bag to find leak

The International Space Station (ISS), 400 kilometers from Earth.

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In September 2019, an air leak was detected within the International Space Station (ISS).

Nothing to worry about NASA until this year in any case.

In recent weeks, the leak seemed to become more and more important.

The astronauts were therefore tasked with finding its origin, reports 

.

They achieved this on Thursday, October 15, and in an original way.

The leaves show the direction

Although the life of the crew was not directly in danger, it became necessary to better control the atmosphere of the station.

The most dilapidated module of the ISS, the Russian one, was quickly singled out.

To find out exactly where the leak was, the astronauts extracted tea leaves from a sachet and released them into the module.

These were suspended in microgravity and observed by cosmonauts using a device.

The photos and videos recorded show "precisely the direction in which the air is sucked in by the air leak," decrypts the Russian Anatoly Ivanishin, a member of the ISS.

The crack found in the module shell was sealed with suitable adhesive tape.

Temporary solution

This is a temporary solution, while suitable material is on the way.

For now, air pressure continues to drop in the station, but to a lesser extent.

Another leak could therefore exist.

Note that during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, the toilets, the food reheating system and an oxygen support broke down, specifies

.

Once again, the astronauts managed to fix everything.

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