Just like a ship, the International Space Station is carrying precious lives and cargo through an unforgiving environment—and its operators want to make sure that its critical resources, like the ammonia that helps keep the station’s cooling system working properly, do not escape into space.

Station has two remote-controlled tools, Robotic External Leak Locators, or RELL units, that can help detect the location of an external leak and quickly confirm a successful repair. To allow mission operators to more easily deploy these important tools using Station’s Dextre robot, the RELLs recently received a new home on the outside of Station—a protective housing unit called Robotic Tool Stowage, or RiTS.

In this episode of Tech on Deck, join us to learn about RELL and RiTS and how robotic tools like these can help enable a sustained human presence in space.