Crisis has been averted aboard the US-section of the International Space Station — where a toxic leak broke out early Wednesday — forcing astronauts to evacuate and take refuge with the Russians.
A mysterious ammonia discharge inside the Americans' segment of the ISS sparked a dramatic rescue mission around 4 a.m. EST as Russia's space men meticulously isolated the six Expedition 42 crew members inside their module, Roscosmos reports.
"The crew's safety was provided for thanks to the coordinated and quick actions of the cosmonauts and astronauts themselves, as well as operative control groups in Moscow and Houston," the Russian space agency said in a statement.
The Expedition 42 outpost is manned by NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Terry Virts, Russians Elena Serova, Alexander Samoukutyaev and Anton Shkaplerov and European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, according to the Associated Press.
Roscosmos and NASA officials worked quickly and efficiently to evaluate and execute their plans, which included the powering down of all non-essential equipment aboard the US side of the station.
"The Expedition 42 crew members are safe and in good shape inside the Russian segment of the International Space Station following an alarm in the U.S. segment," NASA said in a statement. "Flight controllers in Mission Control at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston saw an increase in pressure in the station's water loop for thermal control system B then later saw a cabin pressure increase that could be indicative of an ammonia leak in the worst case scenario."
The American space agency admitted that they were preparing for disaster as they coordinated the astronauts recovery, but they would not say whether or not it was definitely ammonia that triggered the alarm.
"Acting conservatively to protect for the worst case scenario, the crew was directed to isolate themselves in the Russian segment while the teams are evaluating the situation," NASA explained. "In an exchange at 7:02 a.m. with Expedition 42 Commander Barry Wilmore of NASA, spacecraft communicator James Kelly said flight controllers were analyzing their data but said it is not yet known if the alarm was actually triggered by a leak or whether the situation was caused by a faulty sensor or by a problem in a computer relay box that sends data and commands to various systems on the station."
Russia's Tass news agency reported that around one third of the US-segment's ammonia was left in the module's coolant system — and the rest has leaked out, according to the AP.
The Americans will shack up with the Russians Wednesday night while officials on the ground continue to evaluate the situation, according to NASA.
There are currently no plans to evacuate the ISS and a spacewalk is now being considered to try and scope out the situation outside. The cosmic close-call comes as rumors continue to swirl that the Russians could abandon the ISS in 2020, the Moscow Times reports.
People believe Russia wants to construct a brand new space station that it would use as a gateway to the moon and possibly other planets.
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