Nov. 16 (UPI) — NASA officials are at odds with their counterparts at the Russian space agency Roscosmos over the severity of a leak aboard the International Space Station.

The fear among NASA officials is that an existing air leak in a Russian-controlled section of the ISS could possibly lead to a “catastrophic failure”.

The two agencies have known about the leak since 2019, but disagree over the risk it poses to the orbiting lab, which is split into separate but connected Russian and U.S. parts.

“Persistent cracks and air leaks in the service module transfer tunnel pose a major safety risk; and NASA and Roscosmos are collaborating to investigate and mitigate cracks and leaks, determine the root cause, and monitor the station for new leaks. » reads a report published in September by the NASA Office of Inspector General.

Astronauts typically keep the leaking section of the ISS isolated from the rest of the space station. The section is used to separate the area where the spacecraft docks with the ISS from the rest of the space station.

The report determines that the air leak rate in the space station module reached a new high earlier this year.

“In April 2024, NASA identified an increase in the leak rate to its highest level to date. Outside of structural risk mitigation, ISS program managers expect continued “Station operations require additional repairs and that upgrades to key replaceable parts may be more difficult to acquire as suppliers scale back or cease production,” the NASA report said.

The disagreement became more public after a meeting earlier this week of NASA’s advisory committee.

NASA officials believe the leak poses the greatest threat to the International Space Station, while Roscosmos does not share the same level of concern.

“The Russians believe that continued operations are safe, but they cannot prove it to our satisfaction,” said Bob Cabana, chairman of the ISS advisory committee. told CNN after the panel meeting this week.

“And the United States believes it’s not safe, but we can’t prove it to Russia’s satisfaction.”

The cracks causing leaks are too small to be visible to the naked eye and are often located in utility connection areas, making them difficult to access.

“Although the teams continue to investigate the causal factors for the appearance and growth of the cracks, the U.S. and Russian technical teams do not have a common understanding of the likely root cause or the severity of the consequences of these cracks. leaks,” Cabana said. the committee at its meeting this week.

U.S. officials are now pushing for a team of independent experts from both sides to assess the situation and determine a path forward.

Cabana called the September meeting with Roscosmos officials “very successful.”