MOSCOW, March 11. /TASS/. Cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov and Sergei Kud-Sverchkov who are currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS) have completed the work to seal the cracks in the Russian Zvezda module of the orbital outpost, the press office of Russia’s Energia Space Rocket Corporation (part of the space agency Roscosmos) told TASS on Thursday.

"The crew of the International Space Station has completed the repair and recovery work on the hull of the Zvezda module. In the coming days, Sergei Ryzhikov and Sergei Kud-Sverchkov will close the hatches in the Zvezda module to check the atmospheric level," the press office said.

Last week, cosmonauts Ryzhikov and Kud-Sverchkov carried out repair and recovery work in the Russian Zvezda module where a crack and some potential air leak spots had been detected. The Russian crewmembers conducted all the operations under the direction of the ISS Russian Segment’s main operational control group and Energia engineers.

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.

Last week, cosmonaut Ryzhikov applied three layers of a sealant and placed a patch on the first crack in the Zvezda module. On March 6, he applied another layer of the sealant from the end of the installed patch.

On March 8, the cosmonauts elaborated a detailed plan under the direction of specialists from the ISS Russian Segment’s main operational control group for further repair and recovery work. The Russian crewmembers also prepared the necessary equipment for treating the module’s surface, applying the sealant and placing a patch. On March 9, they started work to seal the second crack.