A toxic substance, orignally reported to be ammonia, has leaked into the U.S.-made section of the International Space Station, according to Russian media reports. The astronauts — three Russians, two Americans, and one Italian — are safe and have taken refuge in the Russian section of the space station. "The safety of the crew has been secured by prompt joint action by the U.S. and Russian crewmembers, as well as by mission control staff in Moscow and Houston," Maksim Matyushin, the head of the Russian Mission Control Center, said in a statement to RT. Russian and U.S. space officials are working on a plan to decontaminate the isolated section of the ISS.
UPDATE: On Twitter, NASA says that the crew evacuated due to "safety procedures," and suggested that a "either a faulty sensor or computer relay" may have been behind the coolant leak alarm. --Peter Weber
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Sail in style onboard the brand-new Explora IIThe Week Recommends Hit the high seas on a luxury cruise from Barcelona to Rome
-
Is the EU funding Russia more than Ukraine?The Explainer EU remains largest importer of Russian fossil fuels despite sanctions aimed at crippling Kremlin's war effort
-
Posh crisps: an 'elite' tier of snackingThe Week Recommends Hand-cooked and dusted in 'decadent' flavours, the humble potato chip is being elevated to new levels
-
Breakthrough gene-editing treatment saves babyspeed read KJ Muldoon was healed from a rare genetic condition
-
Full moon calendar: dates and times for every full moon this yearIn depth When to see the lunar phenomenon every month
-
Sea lion proves animals can keep a beatspeed read A sea lion named Ronan beat a group of college students in a rhythmic dance-off, says new study
-
Humans heal much slower than other mammalsSpeed Read Slower healing may have been an evolutionary trade-off when we shed fur for sweat glands
-
Novel 'bone collector' caterpillar wears its preySpeed Read Hawaiian scientists discover a carnivorous caterpillar that decorates its shell with the body parts of dead insects
-
How to see the Lyrid meteor showerThe explainer A nice time to look to the skies
-
Scientists find hint of alien life on distant worldSpeed Read NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has detected a possible signature of life on planet K2-18b
-
Katy Perry, Gayle King visit space on Bezos rocketSpeed Read Six well-known women went into lower orbit for 11 minutes
