An unusual picture of an astronaut. Ice on the International Space Station. But where did it come from?

Seiergiej Korsakov took an unusual photo with Aboard the International Space Station (ISS). You can see the frost on it on the station pole.

It may seem that this is nothing unusual, after all, it is extremely cold in outer space. Outside the station, the temperature is about 150 degrees below zero.

However, this is probably the first image of ice on a spacecraft. Why the first? Because There is no water in the cosmic void.

Where did it come from at the station well? Nobody knows that. According to Korsakov’s account, the ice crystals persisted for about a day, then they melted and left a streak.

We usually call it “vapor,” but the water vapor is actually invisible. What you see on windows and foggy glasses is Fog, i.e. very fine droplets of water.

IFLScience asked where the ice on the glass of the space station might have come from NASA, the European Space Agency and Japan’s JAXA. They did not write again because the ice appeared on the Russian unit. Because of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine Nobody wants to talk to Russia’s Roscosmos.

So guesses remain. ISS multi-glazed windows. The most likely explanation is that the windows lost their tightness and water vapor from the center of the station had seeped between the panes, where it condensed and froze. After all, this happens a lot on Earth.

However, this is concerning because it means that Russian unit windows are not completely sealed. On the other hand, her poor technical condition was no surprise.

In September 2019, a minor chassis leak was discovered in the Russian Zwiezda unit. It was fixed during two space walks in October 2020 and March 2021. It didn’t help much, the pressure inside the unit continued to drop (albeit very slowly). Another Russian unit (Zarya) already has cracks in the hull of the ship.

Vladimir Solovyev, chief engineer of the Russian space company Energia, which designed the modules of the International Space Station, said in 2020 that the station’s equipment is becoming obsolete and will require replacement soon. The Russian space agency Roscosmos, in turn, claimed that Physical stress will make the International Space Station unusable after 2030.

You cannot count on repairs. The Russian space program has fallen victim to corruption scandals and its budget has been cut – including the sums that were to be allocated to the International Space Station. Russians suggest it They will want to leave the International Space Station in 3 yearsby 2025.

While the time was not particularly favorable for the Russian units, the entire station is still in disrepair. It should be remembered that it was built in 1998 and was destined to serve fifteen years, that is, until 2013.

NASA has already announced that in 2031 (that is, after 33 years) The International Space Station will be shut down It will burn in a controlled manner in the Earth’s atmosphere. Until then, private company Axiom Space would like to build a commercial space station.