NASA Orders Crew-12 to Shelter on Space Station, Prepare Evacuation

NASA ordered four astronauts on the space station to shelter in their spacecraft on Friday and prepare for a possible evacuation after a worsening air leak in the station’s Russian portion. The crew received the order from mission control at 9.04am ET.

The astronauts were told to enter their Crew Dragon spacecraft docked to the station and put on their spacesuits in case the leak required an emergency evacuation. The crew included two US astronauts, a French astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut.

Crew-12 and Crew Dragon

The order went to NASA’s Crew-12 mission, the four astronauts aboard the station when the leak worsened. Their move into Crew Dragon gave mission control a ready option if the station needed to be left quickly.

NASA said a Russian crew was trying to fix the leak in the station’s Russian portion while the shelter order was in effect. That left the astronauts waiting inside a docked spacecraft while repairs continued outside their vehicle.

Russian Portion Leak

The air leak was described as worsening, which put the station crew into evacuation mode on Friday. The affected area was the Russian portion of the orbital laboratory, and the response centered on the four astronauts already aboard it.

For the crew, the immediate step was simple: stay inside the spacecraft, keep the suits on, and remain ready for an emergency departure if the leak grew serious enough to require it. The situation tied the station’s repair effort to a direct safety order for the people living there.