The International Space Station (ISS) which has NASA Astronauts Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore along with Russian cosmonauts onboard, witnessed an emergency situation that involved a strange 'toxic' smell. The issue was major enough for NASA and Roscosmos to undertake space station-wide measures.
The toxic smell was detected after the cosmonauts opened the resupply module. The uncrewed resupply cargo spacecraft Progress-90 docked at ISS' Poisk module on November 23.
When the Poisk hatch was opened, the cosmonauts detected the 'toxic' odour. It has also been reported in various media reports that the cosmonauts could also observe droplets. A decision to close the Poisk module was immediately taken and both, NASA and Roscosmos took measures to purify the air inside the space station.
NASA deployed Trace Contaminant Control Subassembly (TCCS) in the US part of the space station while the Russian space agency took additional measures.
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As a precaution, all residents of the space station donned personal protective equipment (PPE). NASA later said that the atmosphere aboard the space station returned to normal by Sunday (November 24).
However, it was not immediately known what caused the toxic smell.
NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are currently stranded at the ISS. Both the astronauts travelled to ISS in June for a week-long mission. But issues with Boeing's Starliner space capsule meant that their stay was extended by months. After efforts to repair the space capsule remotely did not yield the desired results, it was decided by NASA that Starliner would return to Earth without the astronauts. Williams and Wilmore will now return to Earth aboard a SpaceX space capsule.
