The International Space Station is leaking ammonia from its P6 truss structure but the crew is \"in no danger,\" NASA reported this week. <\/p>\n
The Expedition 35 crew reported seeing \"white flakes floating away from an area of the International Space Station's P6 truss structure\" on Thursday at around 11:30 a.m. Eastern, according to the space agency. <\/p>\n
As of Thursday, NASA said that \"the rate of the ammonia leaking from this section of the cooling system has increased\" but maintained that the \"station continues to operate normally otherwise and the crew is in no danger.\" <\/p>\n
The leaking ammonia was coming from the same solar array cooling loop that sprung a leak last year. The ISS crew \"attempted to troubleshoot\" that leak on Nov. 1, 2012, according to NASA, which didn't specify whether they had been successful. <\/p>\n
\"It is not yet known whether this increased ammonia flow is from the same leak, which at the time, was not visible,\" the space agency said. <\/p>\n
Mission Control and the ISS crew have apparently narrowed down the location of the leak but have not isolated its exact location. NASA said \"[p]lans are being developed to reroute other power channels to maintain full operation of those and other systems normally controlled by the solar array that is cooled by this loop.\" <\/p>\n
NASA reported Thursday that its thermal control systems team was projecting a shutdown of the affected cooling loop in \"about 48 hours\" due to the leak. <\/p>\n
\"The team is looking at whether any additional imagery is needed to isolate the leak's location,\" the space agency said. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Read this article:<\/p>\n
NASA: ISS Leaking Ammonia But Crew is Safe<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The International Space Station is leaking ammonia from its P6 truss structure but the crew is \"in no danger,\" NASA reported this week. Continue reading