Astronauts have used tape to temporarily plug an air leak on board the International Space Station.
The problem was spotted on Wednesday night by flight controllers when there was a small loss of cabin pressure while the crew on board the ISS slept.
After waking up, the team on board the space station worked to figure out where the leak was coming from.
It was eventually discovered that there was a tiny 2 millimetre hole in the Soyuz spacecraft attached to the Russian segment of the station.
Astronauts managed to temporarily plug the leak using durable Kapton tape.
Work then got under way to identify a long-term solution, and the hole was later filled using epoxy sealant.
Chris Hadfield, a former ISS commander, described it as a 'nice save'.
When your spaceship suddenly starts leaking air, you fix the hole with duct tape & a gob of epoxy. Nice save, @Space_Station crew! https://t.co/1Va8idShJw pic.twitter.com/pxSJY6eNhc
— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) August 30, 2018
The Russian space agency Roscosmos is now working to establish a possible cause of the leak.
In a statement, NASA said: "Throughout the day, the crew was never in any danger, and was told no further action was contemplated for the remainder of the day. Flight controllers will monitor the pressure trends overnight.
"All station systems are stable and the crew is planning to return to its regular schedule of work on Friday."
Alexander Gerst, a member of the current ISS expedition, said the situation showed how valuable the crew's emergency training is.
Yesterday showed again how valuable our emergency training is. We could locate and stop a small leak in our Soyuz, thanks to great cooperation between the crew and control centres on several continents. pic.twitter.com/Jo0MnIIprL
— Alexander Gerst (@Astro_Alex) August 31, 2018
