New incident on the International Space Station (ISS). After the ‘space soap opera’ of the summer with the astronauts trapped by the breakdown of the Boeing Starliner ship, now an “unexpected smell” in a Russian cargo spacecraft has caused, for the moment, the crew on board the orbital laboratory has not been able to recover fresh food, supplies and the equipment that carried the probe.
As explained by NASA through a post on the social network However, after opening the vehicle’s hatch, “Roscosmos cosmonauts noticed an unexpected odor and observed small droplets,” prompting the crew to close the hatch.
According to what they say in Russianspaceweb“several systems aboard the ISS were activated to clear the station’s atmosphere of potential contaminants, while the Poisk module hatch leading to Progress’s pressurized cargo bay remained closed.” In addition, the Russian crew put on protective equipment and activated an additional air purification system on board the Russian segment “which operated for half an hour.” It was not the only strange stench that was recorded on the ISS: NASA astronaut Don Pettit reported a “paint-like, aerosol-like smell” in the Tranquility or Node 3 module on the American segment. However, it is not clear whether that smell came from the Progress spacecraft, even more so considering that that segment is not connected to the Russian part of the space laboratory.
The next day, the space station’s air scrubbers and pollutant sensors monitored the station’s atmosphere after the observation, determining that the air quality inside the ISS “was at normal levels.” “There are no concerns for the crew and, as of Sunday afternoon, the crew is working to open the hatch between Poisk and Progress while all other space station operations continue as planned,” they noted from NASA.
Progress is expected to remain docked with the space station for several months before departing in 2025 with a load of trash and other unnecessary items, which will burn up in Earth’s atmosphere during reentry.
An active leak for five years
It so happens that the hatch between the Russian side and the American side is usually closed, since five years ago an air leak was detected that is still active today: although NASA has explained that the leak does not pose a danger immediate for the crew, the US agency and Roscosmos do not agree on the cause and remedy of the problem.
“The Russian position is that the most likely cause of the cracks is the high cycle caused by microvibrations,” Bob Cabana, the chairman of the ISS advisory committee, said during a press conference a week and a half ago, referring to the bending of the metal and similar components that heat and cool as the station – which was built starting in 1998 and has some components dating back to that time – enters and leaves the sunlit area.
Instead, NASA’s position is that this leak has multiple causes, “including pressure and mechanical stress, residual stress, material properties, and environmental exposures,” Cabana continued.
Other leaks on Russian ships
It is not the first time that Russian ships have had problems. Without going any further, two years ago a Soyuz that had to bring back several astronauts from the ISS registered a spectacular coolant leak that forced Roscosmos to scrap the damaged ship and send another one, doubling the length of stay of the affected crew. . The problems of the Russian ships did not end there: a cargo probe, of the same model that has now recorded the disturbing smell, also suffered another leak two months later, in February 2023.
However, despite the bad streak in recent years, after those incidents the Russian ships have not reported any problems so far. And, in fact, at the moment there is no proven relationship between both episodes.
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