Astronaut uses finger to plug hole on space station

It may sound like something straight out of a cartoon, but on the morning of Aug. 30, it was the only thing astronaut Alexander Gerst could think of.

After receiving word from NASA that the International Space Station was very slowly leaking air, Gerst and five other astronauts starting scouring all over for the source. Upon finding the 2-millimeter (0.08-inch) hole in the docked Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft, Gerst did what many of us would likely do — he stuck his finger over the opening.

"Right now Alex has got his finger on that hole and I don't think that's the best remedy for it," NASA's mission control reported over a live feed with the ISS.

To slow the leak, the crew used Kapton, a kind of industrial strength "space tape" that remains stable across extreme temperatures. According to NASA, they later used "epoxy on a gauze wipe to plug the hole completely."

The Soyuz MS-09 crew spacecraft docked to the International Space Station was found to be the source of the small leak in air pressure. (Photo: NASA Johnson/Flickr)

The hole appears to have been caused by either space junk or a small meteorite colliding with the station. Due to the object's small size, the lives of the astronauts were never in danger, with NASA adding that the "crew are healthy and safe with weeks of air left in the International Space Station reserves."

NASA reports that, as of late Aug. 31, cabin pressure on the ISS is holding steady.