A Russian spacecraft dock to the International Space Station ( ISS ) did n’t just bestow supply to the ISS — it also brought a foul odor . The unpleasant fragrance was strong enough to prompt astronauts to shut the hatch connecting it to the rest of the space place and initiate anti - contamination procedure .
The Progress 90 cargo ship arrived at the Russian Poisk module at 9:31 a.m. ET on Saturday , November 23 , delivering about three tons of food , fuel , and supplies for members of the Expedition 72 crew on board the ISS . After opening the crosshatch between Progress and the Poisk module , the bunch notice a noxious smell and droplets come from the loading ship . The Roscosmos cosmonauts closed the hatching immediately , fearing a possible contamination peril , RussianSpaceWeb.comreportedbased on communicating between mission control in Houston and the ISS cosmonaut .
NASAconfirmedthe account , adding that the foul smell does not indicate a safety concern for the ISS crew . “ place station air scrubbers and contaminant detector monitored the station ’s atmosphere following the observation , and on Sunday , flight of steps controllers find out melodic line quality inside the outer space post was at normal level , ” NASA wrote on X. “ There are no business concern for the crowd , and as of Sunday afternoon , the crew is wreak to start the hatching between Poisk and Progress while all other place station operations are proceeding as planned .

The Russian Progress 90 cargo craft approaching for a docking to the Poisk module while carrying nearly three tons of food, fuel, and supplies to the International Space Station.NASA
The Russian astronaut reportedly put on protective equipment and activate an air - scratch organization on board the Russian module to scrub the space station ’s atmosphere from possible pollution , according to RussianSpaceWeb.com . The U.S. section of the quad station trigger its own air - cancel system , the Trace Contaminant Control Sub - assembly , while the hatching to Russia ’s Poisk module remain shut . RussianSpaceWeb.com add that NASA astronaut Don Pettit report a “ spray - blusher like ” tone in a U.S. module , but it was n’t clean-cut whether that smell is have-to doe with to the Russian cargo ship .
Russia ’s Progress 90 freight ship will remain docked at the ISS for about six months before make a fervid reentry into Earth ’s atmosphere , where it will cut up , along with ice loaded onto the spacecraft by the crew .
The space post ’s Russian faculty is already not in peachy material body . In 2019 , an melodic phrase leak was discovered in the hall ( identify PrK ) that connects a tying up port to the Russian Zvezda module , which Roscosmos had launched to moo Earth orbit in July 2000 . Earlier this class , NASA elevated the leak to the highest tier of riskas the rate of zephyr elude from the mental faculty had doubled from one British pound sterling of air per day to a little over two pounds . Thereason behind the leakage remains litigious , with NASA and Russia disagreeing on the probable cause .

Russian ballistic capsule have also have issue , with back - to - back coolant leaks taking spot in 2022 . In December 2022 , solid ground squad observeda fountain of particlespouring out from a Soyuz space vehicle dock to the ISS . in short after , aRussian Progress 82 freighter docked to the ISS also began leak coolantin February 2022 .
tensity are already high between NASA and its Russian counterpart , with Roscosmos hesitantly harmonise to stay on the ISS until 2028 ( the place place is due to draw back in 2030 ) . The aging hardware is evidence sign of wear and split from the coarse space surround , but the two space agency ca n’t seem to agree on the level of rigor of these exit .
astronaut healthinternational space stationNASA

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