Nasa fear for 'the possibility of a catastrophic failure' after a leak was discovered in the tunnel that connects a docking port of the ISS to the Russian Zvezda module

For the past five years, air has been escaping through a Russian section of the International Space Station (ISS) at an increasing rate. NASA and its Russian counterpart, Roscosmos, are still in disagreement over the root cause of the leak, as well as the severity of the consequences.

The multinational effort to assemble the station was a huge success, and the ISS has avoided any major incidents thanks to careful management and maintenance. But it is getting old, and the cracks are beginning to show—literally.