MOSCOW, March 5. /TASS/. Russian cosmonaut Sergei Ryzhikov currently working aboard the International Space Station (ISS) will apply the third layer of a sealant and place a patch on the first crack in the Zvezda module, the press office of Russia’s Energia Space Rocket Corporation told TASS on Friday.

"Today the ISS Russian crew will carry out a series of repair and recovery measures as part of the work for removing the air leakage in the Zvezda module. Cosmonaut Sergei Ryzhikov will prepare the surface before applying the third layer of the sealant, inject the sealant and place a patch on the suspected air leakage spot in the hull," the press office said.

The work is being carried out under the direction of specialists of the main operational group for control of the ISS Russian segment, it said.

This week, cosmonauts Ryzhikov and Sergei Kud-Sverchkov are carrying out repair and recovery work in the Russian Zvezda module where a crack and some potential air leak spots were detected. The Russian crewmembers are carrying out all their operations under the direction of the ISS Russian Segment’s main operational control group and Energia engineers are involved in the effort.

All the Russian crew’s operations are being agreed with NASA specialists stage-by-stage on an instruction from state corporation Roscosmos Chief Dmitry Rogozin.

The Roscosmos press office told TASS last week that the cosmonauts had temporarily isolated several possible air leak spots. Following this, the Russian cosmonauts opened and examined them with the help of a microscope and other instruments and sealed them again for the time being. The work to seal the second fracture will begin on March 8-9.