Smoke Reported on the Space Station!

[Virgo10]

The news is just breaking on CNN. The 3 people up there are putting on protective suits.

Geez!

CNN

 

[monkeyboy]

all is well

one had gas

 

[PixieDust32]

Oh no!

 

[kdibattista]

all is well

one had gas

But seriously... it does seem to be under control

HOUSTON - International space station astronauts pulled an alarm and donned protective gear Monday after smelling a foul odor that turned out to be a vapor leaking from an oxygen vent, NASA said.

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"We don't exactly know the nature of the spill ... but the crew is doing well," said Mike Suffredini, NASA's space station program manager. "It's not a life-threatening material."

The crew first reported smoke but it turned out to be an irritant, potassium hydroxide, leaking from an oxygen vent, Suffredini said.

The crew donned surgical gloves and masks but did not have to put on gas masks or oxygen masks, Suffredini said.

"Things are calming down," NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries said.

Because the station's emergency system was activated, the ventilation system was shut down, but ground operations were working to get it back up, Suffredini said.

Potassium hydroxide is a corrosive that can cause serious burns and can be harmful if inhaled, according to a Web posting by the Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory at Oxford University. It can be used to power batteries and is also known as potash lye.

The crew in the orbiting lab 220 miles above Earth had been working on a Russian oxygen-generating system known as the Elektron, NASA said.

The system has given the space station headaches before. It had operated on-and-off for months before breaking down last spring. In June, the crew tried to reactivate it, with mixed results, after replacing a hydrogen vent valve outside during a spacewalk.

The failure of the Elektron, which looks like a water heater, had no impact on operations at the space station.

The international space station was in the middle of a revolving door of visitors. Space shuttle Atlantis' six astronauts departed on Sunday and a Russian Soyuz vehicle carrying two new station crew members and space tourist Anousheh Ansari were expected to arrive on Wednesday.

Early Monday, Atlantis astronauts attached a boom to the shuttle's robotic arm and started an inspection for damage to the shuttle's wings and nose. This is part of the post-Columbia accident routine for shuttles, in which astronauts look for the type of heat shield cuts and tears that caused the fatal shuttle accident in 2003.

The inspection was being conducted by pilot Chris Ferguson and astronauts Dan Burbank and Steve MacLean while the shuttle stayed about 50 miles away from the station in the same relative orbit. If the astronauts find the type of damage that could cause a deadly accident, the shuttle can return to the station. Earlier inspections showed the heat shield was in good condition.

At the same time, astronauts examined and tried to fix what may be a minor leaky valve used for dumping water overboard.

Mission Control praised Atlantis for completing its main mission of adding a 17 1/2-ton addition, including a pair of 115-foot-long solar wings, to the space station.

 

[my4kids]

I read the title of this thread and went to CNN because I thought there was smoke on Space Mountain in WDW!....When I realized it was the SPACE STATION (the real thing in real space) I started laughing at what a DIS(ney) addict I am because - my eyes can read "space station" and by brain hears "Space Mountain"

 

[Rajah]

Yep, all is well. And the crew is trained and trained and trained and trained for just such a problem.

 

[chell]

Whew, glad all is okay.

 

[Todd&Copper]

I thought I read "Stink in Space Station" this morning on the news marque on the way into work. I was busy from the minute I got here, so I forgot to check out the story.

 

[Towncrier]

all is well

one had gas

Reminds me of the character that Harland Williams played in the movie Rocketman - "It wasn't me!!!"

Glad to hear that all is OK.