Astronauts have sealed off two sections of the International Space Station to check that the hole they found in a hose this week is the only leak on board, a mission control spokesman said on Saturday. Air pressure aboard the orbiting station dropped slowly for three weeks until the crew found a pinhead-sized hole in a hose in the U.S. laboratory on Monday. Space officials said pressure had stabilized after the crew removed the defective equipment, but it was still necessary to seal off the modules to double-check there were no more leaks. "More likely than not, no leaks will be found," the mission control spokesman said. "Nevertheless the astronauts need to make sure that this was the only leak." "At midnight (2100 GMT) on Friday they closed Zarya and Destiny for two days to watch the pressure inside the two modules." He said NASA astronaut Michael Foale and Russian Alexander Kaleri would stay in a separate section of the station for two days while the checks were carried out.

Russian and U.S. space officials said the steady loss of air pressure had not posed any danger to the crew because there were adequate air supplies on board. The crew will be sent a replacement hose when the next Progress cargo ship blasts off to the station on January 29.

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