Less than one week after Russian cosmonauts discovered small cracks on the aging International Space Station (ISS), smoke alarms were triggered on the station in the early hours of Thursday, according to AP. Crew members reported dark smoke and the smell of burnt plastic coming from the Russian segment of the space station.
French astronaut Thomas Pesquet said, "the smell of burning plastic or electronic equipment" made its way through the station into the US segment, RIA Novosti reported, citing a NASA broadcast.
Pesquet and other crew members turned on air filters to scrub the station's air of smoke/smell. There was no word on how much smoke was emitted, but reports indicate astronauts went back to sleep after air quality levels returned to normal.
Yeah they did. I'll bet they slept like babies.
When you let the smoke out of electronics they quit working...our good dishwasher did the same but we're not riding it around space.
ReplyDeleteProbably some Russian having a smoke.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, the photo looks a lot like my hi-end audiophile equipment.
That's very true, Russian tobacco does often smell like burning plastic and other foul unmentionably toxic things.
DeleteStill, the ISS has held together pretty well, for a Lada.
The ISS is aging out. Chances are going up that they'll have to evacuate the ISS at some point. Time to either rebuild it, which isn't in the budget, or let the private sector take over keeping a space station up there.
ReplyDeleteA company called Axiom Space has been pushing for a private space station for years. This article is from '17.
https://www.space.com/35488-private-space-station-2020-axiom-space.html
When Musk gets Starship running as envisioned, it's the perfect way to put all those tons in orbit.
"Cracks, holes, smell of burning plastic". What's the big deal? That's a daily occurence in my bathroom about 10 minutes after I finish my morning cup of coffee.
ReplyDeleteSomebody forget that most of the problems are on the Russian side of things?!
ReplyDeleteAnd now that we have a 40 y.o. pc. of commie crap added-on....what more can you expect?!
Regardless of where it happened, one of the worse things that can happen in an enclosed atmosphere like a submarine or the space station, is a fire. A real fire, even a minor one, can fill that space with smoke and consume all of the oxygen in a matter of just minutes. I wonder how much damage control equipment they have and if they have an emergency air breathing system on board.
ReplyDeleteI've been fishing on a boat 65miles offshore that resembles that remark. But we put the fire out & limped home. Do parachutes work that high?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I was wondering about that!
DeleteJust keep in mind, it was built by the same folks that assembled the Lada, the MIR and the Buryan, none of which are with us today. Only a matter of time before the Soviet/Russia era stuff has to be disconnected and nudged towards the sun, in which case it will probably crash down in Kazakhstan.
ReplyDeleteThe ISS was built by goverment contract from the LOWEST BIDDER. And that's the US part. The Russian half didn't even get THAT benefit.
ReplyDeleteDo I detect “Putincide?”
ReplyDeleteand to think this all started AFTER the latest russian space craft sorta docked and then blew its cookies. seems there is something to putincide....
ReplyDeleteTheir part of the space station keeps springing leaks so let's help them build a natural gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea. What could go wrong?
ReplyDelete