The hatch seals. The hiss of pressurisation. Three astronauts are back inside the International Space Station after a nerve-shredding spacewalk to patch a suspected micrometeorite puncture in the Russian Zvezda module.
Sources confirm the leak was detected at 03:14 GMT, triggering an emergency response that saw the crew seal off the affected compartment and scramble a two-man EVA to apply a temporary epoxy patch. The repair held. The UK Space Agency, in a statement released moments ago, praised the crew's 'extraordinary composure under extreme duress'.
But behind the official platitudes, questions linger. Uncovered incident logs show this is the third cabin depressurisation event on the station this year. Each time, the cause is blamed on 'space debris'.
Each time, the patch job is temporary. The agency insists the crew was never in danger. Yet internal emails, obtained by this desk, reveal engineers debated whether to evacuate the entire forward section before the spacewalk.
One engineer wrote: 'We are gambling with their lives.' The crew has now returned to the main habitation module. The repair is expected to hold until a more permanent fix can be arranged.
But the pattern is clear: the ISS is ageing, its hull peppered by micrometeoroids. And the UK Space Agency, eager to showcase British resilience, may be downplaying the risks. The next scheduled comprehensive hull survey is months away.
Until then, the astronauts sleep with one eye open.
