A toxic and unpleasant smell appeared on the ISS after docking with the Russian ship
After the Russian ship docked with the International Space Station to deliver supplies, the astronauts reported a foul smell and put on protective gear.
After the Russian ship docked with the International Space Station to deliver supplies, the astronauts reported a foul smell and put on protective gear.
It was supposed to be a routine mission to deliver about three tons of food, fuel, and materials to the ISS, but when Russian cosmonauts opened the cargo ship’s hatch on Saturday, they were met with a surprise — a toxic smell. This is reported by Ars Technica.
«After opening the hatch of the Progress spacecraft, Roscosmos astronauts smelled an unexpected odor and saw small droplets, prompting the crew to close the Poiska hatch for the rest of the Russian segment», — NASA said in a statement on Sunday.
According to the space agency, after an unusual odor was detected aboard the orbiting laboratory, air scrubbers and pollution sensors aboard the station monitored the atmosphere. By Sunday, flight controllers at the Flight Control Center in Houston determined that the air quality inside the space station was at normal levels.
However, the American space agency may be downplaying the seriousness of the event. The smell was «toxic» and prompted Russian cosmonauts to immediately close the hatch leading to the Progress spacecraft, which launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Thursday, according to Anatoly Zak of the independent Russian Space Web.
Zack said the astronauts aboard the Russian segment of the station donned protective gear and activated an additional air purification system on their side of the station. On the American segment of the station, NASA astronaut Don Pettit reported that he smelled something similar to «spray paint.»
As of Sunday afternoon, NASA said the crew was safe and that astronauts were working to open the hatch between the Search module and the Progress spacecraft. Attached to the space station in 2009, Poisk is a small element that connects to one of four docking ports on the Russian segment of the station.
It is currently unknown what caused the unpleasant smell from the Progress ship, but previous Russian ships had leaks while in space. In February 2023, a depressurization of the cooling system occurred in the Progress ship attached to the station.
It is reported that due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Roscosmos has faced a number of technical problems trying to deliver people and cargo to the International Space Station in recent years.
We will remind that in September, NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore heard strange sounds coming from the speaker inside the Boeing Starliner spacecraft. It previously carried American astronauts to the ISS, but was unable to return them to Earth due to helium leaks.
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