Just like NASA could evacuate the ISS despite fears of leaks and cracks in the space station

A growing leak on the International Space Station has sparked fears that astronauts on board may need to be evacuated, including the two stranded on Boeing's Starliner.

All seven astronauts were forced to the U.S. side of the orbiting laboratory due to 50 “problem areas” and four cracks in a Russian-made module.

If the leaks become severe, the space station could quickly lose oxygen and pressure.

As soon as Houston raises the alarm of a threat, the astronauts would have to run to close the hatch of the leaking section and make their way to the “lifeboats” docked on the ship.

A space expert told DailyMail.com that in the event of a necessary evacuation, any crew would flee on their assigned NASA spacecraft, including the SpaceX Dragon capsule and Russia's Soyuz.

Steve Stich, NASA's commercial crew program manager, said SpaceX's Dragon could be powered up within minutes in an emergency.

The capsules are equipped with emergency suits so that the crew can quickly don the correct equipment when escaping the orbiting laboratory, saving valuable time.

However, the US space agency has admitted that a lack of launch-ready vehicles leaves it unprepared for capsule failures that could leave the crew stranded with no way home.

NASA is committed to fully utilizing and safely operating the space station by 2030, and plans to decommission the ISS sometime after that.

Independent space safety expert Laura Forczyk told DailyMail.com: “If the leaks on the ISS worsen to the point that NASA and Russia conclude that the situation is unsafe, that could require an earlier decommissioning of the ISS mean than expected.”

The main leak was found in a service module transfer tunnel in Russia's Zvezda module provides station living quarters, life support systems, power distribution and data processing, and flight control and propulsion systems.

American astronauts who came to the ISS on the SpaceX capsule are ready to escape on their spacecraft if necessary.

But the evacuation plan for Don Pettit, a NASA astronaut who flew to the ISS in September aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft with two Russian astronauts, is a little more complicated.

In an emergency, he would not return to Earth with Soyuz. Instead, he would have to cram himself into the SpaceX capsule, which was recently equipped with an extra seat just in case Pettit needed it, NASA spokesman Jimi Russell told DailyMail.com.

It is unclear why Pettit would not return on the Russian ship, but some suspect the swap was due to growing tensions between Russia and the United States.

NASA currently has no official evacuation plan for American astronauts assigned to Russian spacecraft. But the agency has awarded SpaceX a $266,000 contract to build such a device.

In the event that the entire ISS becomes uninhabitable due to leaks, cracks and other problems, astronaut crews would follow protocol and seek shelter in their respective spacecraft.

This is not the first time the ISS has experienced a leak. In 2018, astronauts rushed to repair a hole (pictured) that had appeared in the outside wall of the Soyuz capsule in the orbiting laboratory.

ESA astronaut Tim Peake took this photo from inside the dome in 2016, showing a 7mm diameter circular fragment torn out by the impact of a tiny piece of space debris

According to a September report from NASA's Office of Inspector General (OIG), each crew's capsule has an assigned in-vehicle protection plan that protects astronauts from threats aboard the ISS and allows them to escape the space station if necessary.

“It was designed for such eventualities,” Stich said previously.

They also contain astronaut suits so that crews can dress quickly and comfortably in an emergency.

According to NASA, it can take up to 30 minutes to get into a spacesuit.

In an emergency situation, it would be crucial to streamline this process as much as possible.

These vehicles would be the astronauts' only means of escape. If something happened to them, it would be a different story.

“Due to high costs and a limited budget, the agency is unable to respond immediately when crew vehicles sustain significant damage and are no longer safe for crew evacuation due to a lack of ready-to-launch vehicles,” the report said .

The Russian Zvezda module was launched in 2000 and “served as the initial foundation for the station's first human settlement,” NASA said. But like the rest of the ISS, this module is aging and requires maintenance to continue functioning.

The leak has existed since 2019, when air began leaking from the module's transfer tunnel, a vestibule that separates the Russian docking port from the rest of the module.

There was no immediate danger, but the problem was eventually located and fixed several times over the past five years.

The Zvezda module is used to access a Russian cargo dock. Due to the escalating leak, the Russian space agency has agreed to keep the module sealed except when necessary

In 2021, a new leak was also discovered in Russia's Zvezda module, which was deemed a “quite serious issue.”

If the leak becomes more serious, NASA and Roscosmos could be forced to permanently close the hatch to the affected tunnel.

And if the leaks worsened to the point where the habitability of the entire space station was compromised, astronauts would be forced to cling to their spacecraft and possibly return to Earth.

Former NASA astronaut Bill Shepherd, who served as the first commander of the ISS from October 2000 to March 2001, told a House committee at the time that NASA and Russian engineers “don't understand exactly why the cracks are appearing now.”

Shepherd echoed Russian space agency Roscosmos' claims that it was “becoming a serious problem.”

Although NASA has repeatedly fixed the main leak, the amount of air escaping from the station has only increased over the past five years.

NASA is currently tracking 50 “areas of concern” related to a leak in Russia's Zvezda Service Module Transfer Tunnel (labeled), which occurred in 2019

The Canadarm2 robotic arm was hit by space debris in May 2021, creating a hole that fortunately did not affect the robotic arm's functionality

This was the focus of the OIG's September report, which found that the leak reached record rates in April, losing 3.7 pounds of air each day.

The OIG raised the threat rating in NASA's internal risk assessments to five out of five.

But this leak is just the tip of the iceberg. NASA officials told The Washington Post they are tracking four more cracks and 50 “areas of concern” on the ISS.

Speaking to The Washington Post, NASA Deputy Administrator Jim Free said: “We have expressed the severity of the leaks numerous times, including when I was in Russia earlier this year.”

The cracks were “all covered with a combination of sealant and patches” by Roscosmos and further repairs are underway.

However, they continue to be a concern, particularly because the leaks are near a hatch. NASA and Roscosmos only open the hatch when absolutely necessary and keep it closed in the evenings.

The aging ISS stayed in orbit for ten years longer than NASA originally planned.

According to the September report, the OIG identified 588 replacement parts that were functioning beyond their useful life.

Making matters worse, the OIG is monitoring several other risks that could endanger the ISS, including possible collisions with micrometeors and space debris.

NASA is currently planning to decommission the ISS by 2031 and has commissioned SpaceX to build a Dragon spacecraft that could remove the station from orbit.

But there's a chance this latest scourge of technical problems could shorten that time frame, according to space security expert Laura Forczyk.

However, she said that deteriorating geopolitical relations between the US and Russia was the bigger risk factor to the ISS decommissioning schedule.