Astronauts Found And Sealed A Hole With A Finger In The ISS

Just typical struggle spacemen have to deal with daily. And yes, they indeed covered the hole with a thumb.

After waking up in the ISS, the space crew was announced that there is a leaking hole which released air outside the station. The leak was detected by the ground staff during the night however it was not big enough to be an emergency.

After searching around, the 5 spacemen finally discovered the leak located on the Soyuz MS-09 which was used in June to transport 3 men of the Expedition 56 to the ISS. The leak, of course, could not destroy the whole system instantly yet it was still crucial to detect and seal it before the ISS lose all of its air supply.

And indeed the problem wasn’t that big, literally. It was only a 2mm-wide leak situated in the orbital compartment of the Soyuz MS-09.

So, while waiting for the companions to find the repair kit, spaceman Alexander Gerst of European Astronaut Corps managed to place his thumb on the hole to temporarily cover it.

While waiting for his crewmates to gather the necessary tools, Alexander Gerst managed to seal the leak temporarily.

And no, he didn’t have to stay there forever with a numb thumb. After a while, his crewmates brought epoxy and Kapton along to tape the damage. Though they are very long-lasting materials specially designed for space environment, it was still not a perfect solution, the crew would have to cover it properly after that.

The ISS was safe again and it was Russian Roscosmos’ task to find out the origin of the hole.

The finger leakin’ good, guys.