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.
-
July 6 editorial cartoonsCartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include paying for school lunch by enlisting, and the banality of evil
-
5 biting editorial cartoons about 'Alligator Alcatraz'Cartoons Artists take on dangerous green things, historical precedent, and more
-
A journey into the deep past on beautiful ArranThe Week Recommends New Unesco Global Geopark played a 'key role' in the birth of modern geological science
-
New York plans first nuclear plant in 36 yearsSpeed Read The plant, to be constructed somewhere in upstate New York, will produce enough energy to power a million homes
-
The treasure trove of platinum on the moonUnder the radar This kind of bounty could lead to commercial exploitation
-
Why Elon Musk's satellites are 'dropping like flies'Under The Radar Fierce solar activity destroying Starlink satellites
-
Dehorning rhinos sharply cuts poaching, study findsSpeed Read The painless procedure may be an effective way to reduce the widespread poaching of rhinoceroses
-
Why is Nasa facing a crisis?Today's Big Question Trump administration proposes 25% cut to national space agency's budget in 'extinction-level event'
-
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
