---
title: "NASA Still Hasn’t Found the Damn Leak on the Space Station"
description: "The good news is that the air is leaking out of the space station very slowly. But the bad news is that they still haven't found it yet."
date: "2020-08-25"
modified: "2020-08-25"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-leak-space-station"
categories:
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "leak"
  - "NASA"
  - "space station"
  - "the digest"
---

# NASA Still Hasn’t Found the Damn Leak on the Space Station

![The good news is that the air is leaking out of the space station very slowly. But the bad news is that they still haven't found it yet.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/nasa-still-hasnt-found-leak-on-international-space-station.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Deflating

NASA is still struggling to find the leak in its segment of the International Space Station.

The good news is that the air is leaking out of the segment very slowly, and NASA is downplaying the risk. But the bad news is that they still haven't found it yet — forcing the NASA crew to spend yet another night in the Russian segment of the station.

## Fresh Air

The news comes after NASA [evacuated its segment](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-small-leak-international-space-station>) of the station late last week, directing its crew to spend the weekend in the Russian segment while the space agency tries to identify and patch the source of the leak.

A little bit of leakage is normal, as NASA has emphasized in [both](<https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2020/08/20/crew-spending-weekend-in-stations-russian-segment/>) [press releases](<https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2020/08/24/crew-spending-another-day-in-russian-segment/>) it's issued about the problem. In fact, it says that it first became suspicious that air was leaking at an elevated level back in September 2019, though it wasn't able to confirm the issue until recently due to the slow rate of pressure loss.

## hISSsssss

By sealing all the segment's hatches, NASA's mission control is hoping it can isolate the source of the leak so personnel on the station can patch it up.

In space, there's nothing scarier than a leak — so let's hope they find it soon.

**READ MORE:** [Space station crew spend extra night in Russian segment as air leak investigation continues](<https://www.space.com/space-station-leak-investigation-continues.html>) \[*Space.com*\]

**More on the ISS:** *[Researchers Built a “Gravity Suit” to Keep Astronauts Healthy](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/gravity-suit-astronaut-health>)*

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)