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Space Station Could Use Some Martian Sawgrass

It turned out that the leak was located in the intermediate chamber of the Russian Zvezda module. In October, cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Wagner discovered a 4.5-centimeter crack with the help of tea leaves. It was temporarily sealed with Kapton tape (heat-resistant tape), and then with a patch - a flexible disk made of rubber and aluminum foil. However, this did not completely eliminate the loss of air. Roscosmos told RIA Novosti that the crack does not threaten the ISS and the crew, and ground specialists are deciding how to patch it up for a long time.

According to Yuri Gidzenko, Deputy Flight Director of the ISS Russian Segment, in February a special repair kit will be delivered to the station on the Progress MS-16 cargo vehicle for the final sealing of the Zvezda intermediate chamber. Russian cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov and Sergei Kud-Sverchkov , American astronauts Kathleen Rubins , Michael Hopkins , Victor Glover and Shannon Walker, and the Japanese Soichi Noguchi are currently working on the ISS .

(Via На МКС заканчивается запас воздуха для восполнения утечки)

As Winchell Chung points out, hard science fiction authors have thought of lots of ideas. See quartzite leak foil from The Great Dome of Mercury (1932) by Leo Zagat, leak disks from Islands in the Sky (1952) by Arthur C. Clarke and plug-ups from Passage at Arms (1985) by Glen Cook.

Another way to plug holes in spacecraft or other constructions in space is to have some sort of material already present in the walls. Compare to alpha inserts from Exiles of the Moon (1931) by Schachner and Zagat, quartzite leak foil from The Great Dome of Mercury (1932) by Leo Zagat, plastifoam from Collision Orbit (1941) by Jack Williamson and self-sealing plastic from Asteroid of Fear (1951) by Raymond Z. Gallun.

But, I'd like to emphasize oxygen replacement, and so I'm going to suggest that you read about Martian sawgrass from QRM - Interplanetary (1942) by George O. Smith. His setup is really pretty funny.

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