Astronauts alarmed

ISS: “Toxic smell” on Russian space shuttle

A "Progress" space freighter

(Bild: AFP)

When the ISS astronauts opened the hatch to the Russian space shuttle "Progress 90" at the weekend, they were met with a terrible stench. The smell was described as "toxic" and the hatch was immediately closed again. The all-clear has since been given, but the source of the odor remains a mystery.

The unmanned space shuttle docked at the International Space Station to deliver three tons of fuel, food and supplies to . However, in addition to the unpleasant odor, the Russian crew members also noticed small droplets when they opened the hatch of the space freighter. The incident was shared by the official ISS account on X. 

The hatch was immediately closed and the space station's air purification systems were switched on. However, the pollutant sensors were unable to detect any hazardous substances in the air on board.

Source of the odor unclear
The Russian Space Web platform described the smell as toxic - out of concern, the cosmonauts had even put on protective equipment. An additional air purification system was activated for half an hour in the Russian section of the station. The source of the stench could not be determined. On Sunday evening 

There was already a problem with a Russian spacecraft in December 2022: a leak was detected in the cooling system of a Soyuz space shuttle. At the beginning of February, a Progress space freighter sprung a leak. There is also a leak in the Russian segment of the ISS, which NASA describes as "a major safety risk".