During a routine mission to deliver about 3 tons of food, fuel, and supplies to the International Space Station (ISS), after opening the hatch to the Russian cargo ship «Progress», the astronauts smelled an unpleasant odor and quickly closed it. The incident occurred on Saturday, and the spacecraft itself was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Thursday.
«After opening the hatch of the «Progress» spacecraft, Russian cosmonauts noticed an unexpected odor and small droplets, prompting the crew to close the hatch to the «Search» module, which is connected to the Russian segment», the NASA space agency said on Sunday.
According to NASA, air filters and pollution sensors aboard the orbiting laboratory monitored the station’s atmosphere after detecting an abnormal odor. On Sunday, flight controllers in Houston determined that the air quality inside the space station was normal.
However, the space agency may be downplaying the seriousness of the incident. According to Anatoly Zak of Russian Space Web, a reliable independent site, the smell was «toxic» and prompted Russian cosmonauts to immediately close the hatch leading to the spacecraft «Progress».
According to Zak, astronauts on the Russian segment of the station donned protective gear and activated an additional air purification system. On the U.S. segment of the station, NASA astronaut Don Pettit said he smelled an odor similar to «spray paint».
As of Sunday afternoon, NASA said there were no threats to the crew and that astronauts were working to open a 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 the four docking ports on the Russian segment of the station.
It is currently unknown what exactly caused the foul odor emanating from the «Progress» vehicle. However, Russian vehicles have previously encountered problems in space. For example, in February 2023, the «Progress» vehicle attached to the station lost pressure in its cooling system.
Faced with financial and personnel problems due to Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine, the Russian space corporation «Roscosmos» has faced a number of technical problems. In recent years, they have been constantly manifested during the delivery of people and supplies to the ISS.
Source: arstechnica
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