by Playfuls Staff |
18th September 2006
Shortly before 7:30 a.m. EDT, the International Space Station Expedition 13 crew reported an odor in the Zvezda Service Module and manually activated an alarm to begin emergency procedures.[more]
The source of the odor was quickly determined to be an apparent leak of potassium hydroxide in the station's Elektron oxygen generation system. Potassium hydroxide, or caustic potash, can be an irritant to crew members, but is not classified as a life-threatening toxin.
The first sign of the problem was a smoke alarm that went off as the station crew worked on the Elektron unit, said Michael T. Suffredini, the head of the station program, in a morning press conference. “Smoke in the cabin was what we thought we were dealing with originally,” he said.
The crew donned surgical masks, goggles and gloves for protection from the apparently small leak. Continual measurements of the station atmosphere have indicated levels of any contaminants are very low. The crew also has begun a standard procedure to scrub the air onboard to ensure no potassium hydroxide vapors remain.
Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov reported to Russian flight controllers at about 7:45 a.m. that the situation had stabilized and that he cleaned up a chemical near the Elektron oxygen generation system.
International Space Station Program Manager Mike Suffredini said the incident will have no impact on the upcoming arrival of the Expedition 14 crew on Wednesday.
The astronauts- Pavel V. Vinogradov of Russia, Col. Jeffrey N. Williams of the Army and Thomas Reiter of Germany- “did a great job” of reacting quickly to the problem, Mr. Suffredini said. Mr. Williams reported detecting a chemical smell.
At no time did NASA seriously consider having the crew enter the Soyuz capsule attached to the station to abandon ship, Mr. 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.
The potassium hydroxide, a corrosive that can cause serious burns and can be harmful if inhaled, was to be cleaned up and wrapped up in two rubber bags, Suffredini said.
Potassium hydroxide 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 failure of the Elektron, which looks like a water heater, had no impact on operations at the space station.
