Astronauts Shelter as Russian Segment Faces Air Leak

Five astronauts aboard the International Space Station retreated into a docked Dragon spacecraft on Friday, following emergency orders from NASA to prepare for a potential evacuation. The precautionary measure came as Russian crew members attempted to locate and contain a persistent air leak within the station’s Russian-operated segment.

Editorial·June 6, 2026·reads: 2,725

Astronauts Shelter as Russian Segment Faces Air Leak

The evacuation order remained in effect for approximately two hours before ground controllers signaled the crew to resume normal operations. Those who took shelter included the four-person SpaceX Crew-12 team—commander Jessica Meir, pilot Jack Hathaway, mission specialist Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev—alongside NASA astronaut Chris Williams.

Meir, a veteran of two spaceflights, led the Dragon contingent, which included Hathaway, a U.S. Navy commander on his maiden voyage, and Adenot, an ESA engineer and former pilot. Fedyaev, an experienced cosmonaut with a previous 186-day mission on his record, joined them in the capsule. Meanwhile, the station's Expedition 74 crew—commander Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, flight engineer Sergei Mikaev, and Williams—continued their mission, which officially began on December 8 and is scheduled to run through the summer.