Now We Can Get Back
To Wasting $$$

BBC 'reports' below.

Failed to explain what the fuck it matter how zero-gravity affects cancer cells.

Space station leak cause found

The ISS is the product of work and resources from 16 countries

Officials say they have found the cause of a leak on the International Space Station, which led to a pressure drop.

The problem, discovered late last month, was attributed to a hose in the US section of the ISS.

The leak led to a drop in air pressure but both the US space agency Nasa and the Russian mission stressed the crew on board were not in any danger.

US mission commander Michael Foale and Russian colleague Alexander Kaleri are spending six months on the platform.

The director of Nasa's Human Space Flight programme in Russia, Jim Newman, told Reuters news agency that the leak originated in a hose in a US laboratory.

"The leak is in a flex hose in the lab window," he said by telephone.

"It's 95% at this stage... It is most likely the culprit".

He said the hose, which helps keep air and condensation out of the windows, could be replaced if it was confirmed as the cause of the leak.

Isolation

The crew might have to be isolated from the US modules for a period, but no decision had yet been taken, Nasa spokeswoman Melissa Mathews told BBC News Online.

The plan would involve closing hatches connecting the four main modules - two Russian and two American - on the 16-nation station so the leak could be traced.

Alexander Kaleri and Michael Foale arrived in October

Russia's Itar-tass news agency quoted a Russian space official as saying the crew was already making preparations to isolate the US modules.

"The crew will isolate the American Destiny module for a period of time on Wednesday from other sections of the craft to make sure it is hermetic," Pavel Vinogradov, cosmonaut chief at the Energia corporation, told the agency.

He said the US section could be sealed for at least 24 hours.

The two astronauts arrived on the ISS last October, becoming the eighth set of full-time residents. They are due to remain until the end of April.

Dr Foale told the BBC in early December that their tasks included experiments on how zero gravity affects the development of cancer cells and the crystallisation of metals.

Russia | Space Waste | Jan. 2004