Small Meteorite Hits Space Station

The crew aboard the International Space Station is dealing with a unique workplace hazard, but NASA says nobody is in danger. It seems a small meteor caused a "minute" pressure leak, reports AFP. The six-member crew is now repairing the leak, which was found not on the station itself but on the Russian Soyuz ship docked there. It will be patched from the inside. Official statements refer to the meteor as a "micrometeorite" and the resulting damage as a "micro fracture." The crack is just 1.5 millimeters, reports ClickOrlando, but it was big enough to cause an oxygen leak spotted by flight controllers on the ground. NASA has three members currently aboard the station, Europe has one, and Russia two. (More International Space Station stories.)