The Leak Found with Tea Leaves
When air began leaking out of the space station and no instrument could find the hole, cosmonauts opened a bag of tea leaves and watched where they drifted.
What was reported
In 2019 and 2020, the crew of the International Space Station noticed that air was escaping very slowly. The leak was traced to the Russian Zvezda module, which was launched from Baikonur in 2000, but the hole itself was too small to see.
In October 2020, the cosmonauts released a few tea leaves in the sealed section and filmed them floating in the weightless air. The leaves drifted towards one spot and gathered there, showing the crew where the crack was.
Explanations offered
In weightlessness, the slight flow of air towards the crack carried the leaves with it. The crew sealed the crack, though small leaks have continued to appear in that section since.
- When
- October 2020
- Where
- In orbit, aboard the International Space Station
- Witnesses
- The crew of the International Space Station
- Status
- Explained
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