No. It's not a place for people who suffer from claustrophobia. All astronauts are tested for claustrophobia before they fly. Here is how it is done:
For details see Do astronauts living and working in a space station suffer from panic attacks such as spelunkers in deep caves?
On the other hand however, if there is an emergency, you can leave the station. They are required to have a Soyuz TMA attached at all times - or two of them if there are six astronauts on board. Generally they have to have enough spacecraft attached to return everyone on board to Earth.
It's not impossible that the ISS could be destroyed, a bit like in Gravity but less dramatic. They frequently have to "dodge" LEO debris. And you can't predict meteorites. The chance is tiny because it is well protected from the smaller meteorites, for instance by "whipple shields" - multiple thin layers to first slow down a micrometeorite then splat it out so it causes no harm - but if a piece of debris hit some vital system on the ISS and they don't have the spare parts or the time to fix it right away, they might have to go back to Earth quickly in an emergency.
If they can't "dodge" a piece of debris in time (the debris is detected from the Earth via radar), then the crew get into the Soyuz TMA as it approaches - and are ready to go back down to Earth within hours if necessary. The TMA is a far smaller target than the ISS so would be likely to survive if the ISS is hit.
In a situation like that, they could get back to Earth in a few hours. We would then have the difficult decision, whether the ISS can be repaired or needs to be abandoned permanently. NASA has contingency procedures worked out in great detail for this scenario.
On the other hand however, if there is an emergency, you can leave the station. They are required to have a Soyuz TMA attached at all times - or two of them if there are six astronauts on board. Generally they have to have enough spacecraft attached to return everyone on board to Earth.
It's not impossible that the ISS could be destroyed, a bit like in Gravity but less dramatic. They frequently have to "dodge" LEO debris. And you can't predict meteorites. The chance is tiny because it is well protected from the smaller meteorites, for instance by "whipple shields" - multiple thin layers to first slow down a micrometeorite then splat it out so it causes no harm - but if a piece of debris hit some vital system on the ISS and they don't have the spare parts or the time to fix it right away, they might have to go back to Earth quickly in an emergency.
If they can't "dodge" a piece of debris in time (the debris is detected from the Earth via radar), then the crew get into the Soyuz TMA as it approaches - and are ready to go back down to Earth within hours if necessary. The TMA is a far smaller target than the ISS so would be likely to survive if the ISS is hit.
In a situation like that, they could get back to Earth in a few hours. We would then have the difficult decision, whether the ISS can be repaired or needs to be abandoned permanently. NASA has contingency procedures worked out in great detail for this scenario.
About the Author
Robert Walker
Writer of articles on Mars and Space issues - Software Developer of Tune Smithy, Bounce Metronome etc.Studied at Wolfson College, Oxford
Lives in Isle of Mull
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