CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A chartered spaceflight for India, Poland and Hungary’s first astronauts in decades has been delayed indefinitely because of leak concerns at the International Space Station.
NASA said Thursday that it wants to monitor the cabin pressure on the Russian side of the orbiting lab before accepting visitors. Officials stressed that the seven astronauts currently at the space station are safe and that other operations up there aren't affected.
SpaceX was supposed to launch four private astronauts this week on a 14-day space station mission, but bad weather and SpaceX rocket trouble delayed the flight. Then the station leak issue cropped up.
The Russian Space Agency has been dealing with cracks and air leaks in its station compartments for more than five years — “a top safety risk," according to NASA's Office of Inspector General. Recent repairs resulted in what NASA calls “a new pressure signature.” Additional details were not immediately available.
The three Russians aboard the space station recently inspected the inside walls of the aging Zvezda service module, which launched in 2000, as well as a connecting tunnel. They sealed some areas and measured the current leak rate.
“Following this effort, the segment now is holding pressure,” NASA said in an online update.
The private mission's delay provides extra time for NASA and the Russian Space Agency “to evaluate the situation” and determine whether more repairs are needed.
The chartered flight was arranged by the Houston company Axiom Space, and was to be Axiom's fourth trip to the space station with paying customers since 2022.
“This is the right thing to do,” Axiom Space's executive chairman Kam Ghaffarian said in a written statement. “We will continue to work with all of our partners to finalize a new launch date.”
The four astronauts — led by retired NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, now an Axiom Space employee — will remain in quarantine in Florida.
NASA wants to keep the space station operating until 2030 before dropping it out of orbit. The goal is to replace it with a number of privately owned stations; Axiom Space is among the companies looking to fill the gap.
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SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon capsule stands ready for launch on pad 39A for a mission to the International Space Station at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Four years after showing up late for the Beijing Olympics and missing one of his races because of a case of COVID-19, U.S. long track speedskater Casey Dawson is enjoying what he jokingly terms his “villain arc,” peaking at the right time ahead of the Milan Cortina Games.
Dawson secured a spot for next month in the men's 5,000 meters — an event he was forced to skip in 2022 while sick — by winning at that distance at the U.S. Olympic trials in 6 minutes, 12.857 seconds on Friday night.
“I actually got COVID two or three weeks before going to the competition. Tested positive for 50 straight tests,” said Dawson, a 25-year-old from Park City, Utah. “Couldn’t go over to the Games. I missed the opening ceremonies. Missed the 5,000 meters. Showed up 12 hours before my 1,500 meters. So I kind of got a little screwed over from that point of view. But this time around, I’m just looking forward to getting there smoothly and just getting a little bit of redemption.”
And then, with a chuckle, Dawson added: “It’s kind of fun to have, like, my villain arc, I would call it. Just coming back and having some fun.”
Ethan Cepuran was about 6 1/2 seconds back Friday, finishing next in 6:19.335.
The last American man to medal in the 5,000 at an Olympics was Chad Hedrick at the 2006 Turin Games.
Dawson already had secured the lone U.S. place for Milan in the men’s 10,000 — a race not being contested at these trials — and also will be part of the trio for men’s team pursuit at the Olympics.
Dawson, Cepuran and Emery Lehman took the bronze in that event in Beijing four years ago, set the world record in 2024 and claimed gold in the team pursuit at the world championships in March.
In the other race Friday, the women's 3,000, Greta Myers won in 4:06.799. As of now, the United States does not have a berth in Milan for that distance, but one of its athletes could end up in the field if another country relinquishes an opening.
“It's hard to wait,” said Myers, a 21-year-old from Lino Lakes, Minnesota. “But I'm very hopeful. I think it's at least a 50-50 chance that it'll happen.”
The U.S. Olympic roster for long track won't become official until the four-day trials at the Pettit National Ice Center wrap up on Monday. One element that could come into play is that the Americans are allowed to bring a maximum of eight men and six women to these Winter Games.
The biggest star of the team — and the sport — is scheduled to make his trials debut Saturday in the men's 1,000 meters: Jordan Stolz. The 21-year-old from Kewaskum, a town about 40 miles north of Milwaukee, is not just competing at home this week; he's racing at the same rink where he first began taking lessons as a kid.
He made his Olympic debut at age 17 in Beijing four years ago, finishing 13th in the 500 and 14th in the 1,000.
At both the 2023 and 2024 world championships, Stolz earned titles in each of the 500, 1,000 and 1,500 meters.
He's already pre-qualified for the Olympics based on performances at those three distances. All he really needs to do to lock down berths on the squad for the Feb. 6-22 Milan Cortina Games is show up at the starting line this week.
The 500 and 1,500 are slated for Sunday, and the mass start is Monday.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Casey Dawson, of Park City, Utah, right, and Ethan Cepuran, of Glen Ellyn, lllinois, left, compete in the men's 5,000 meters at the U.S. Olympic trials for long track speed skating at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Howard Fendrich)
The Pettit National Ice Center is seen in Milwaukee on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, the first day of the U.S. Olympic trials for long track speedskating. (AP Photo/Howard Fendrich)
