Life on the International Space Station (ISS) is not so different from what we face down on the ground – astronauts also deal with leaks in their houses.

The difference: an air leak on the ISS can be fatal, while water leakage in your house only ruins a day or two.

The reason behind this is that there's no air in space. With no air to breathe, astronauts have to rely on the ISS' "life support system" to stay alive.

And now the U.S. part of the station is leaking air.

The seemingly horrible situation has forced three astronauts to temporarily move to the Russian part – the only part left – last weekend.

It's not the first time people in space have had to deal with such problems. As we at CGTN Digital covered back in 2018, a leakage also happened on the Russian side.

The 2018 leak was patched in a day so it didn't cause any serious trouble. But this time, the leak is difficult to locate.

Yang Yuguang, a professor from the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, told CCTV that the ISS is very large.

"It weights about 400 tonnes and has an inner space larger than a passenger plane," he said. "So looking for a millimeter-sized crack can be very time-consuming."

The astronauts are planning a thorough check on the U.S. segment of the ISS, which may take a week to carry out.

Fortunately, the leakage seems to be less serious than the 2018 case, leaking about 220 grams of air every day – a manageable quantity.