This Is the Worst Thing That Could Happen to the International Space Station

For instance, and this would be very, very bad: a puncture wound.

In the vacuum of space, the amount of debris—spent rocket stages, splintered satellites, micrometeoroids—numbers in the millions, all zooming about, often at 17,000 mph speeds. They’re also constantly hitting each other in a tsuris of exponential littering. Most of these pieces are tiny, and many are not anywhere near the altitude of the ISS. But the area isn’t completely clean.

Debris actually pelts the ISS all the time, and noticeable dents and cracks line the exteriors. But should something fully breach the station, cabin atmosphere will seep into the vacuum of space and alarms will go off. Pressure gauges will confirm to astronauts that the station has, almost certainly, been hit, and the speed of the seepages may indicate how much time the crew has to respond. According to one NASA estimate, a ...