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Alarms sounded aboard the Russian side of the International Space Station (ISS) early Thursday, September 9, and the crew reported seeing smoke and a smell of burning plastic, according to news reports.
The incident occurred in the Russian Zvezda module as the station’s batteries were recharging, Russian space agency Roscosmos reported. according to the BBC. The systems are now back to normal and the crew has resumed “regular training,” Roscosmos said. The ISS crew activated the air filters, which purged the air, according to Associated Press.
Although this incident has been resolved, it was not the first time that the ISS has faced disturbing events. And it probably won’t be the last.
Related: International Space Station at 20: a photo tour
Much of the equipment on board the ISS is obsolete and could lead to irreparable failures, Vladimir Soloviev, chief engineer of rocket and space company Energia, told state media on September 1, according to the BBC. At least 80% of the in-flight systems on the Russian segment of the ISS have expired, Soloviev said.
On August 30, Russian cosmonauts discovered cracks in the ISS Zarya module, which was the first component of the ISS to be launched into orbit, in 1998, Previously reported live science. Soloviev told Russian state news agency RIA that these cracks may start to expand over time. He had also previously warned of an “avalanche” of broken material after 2025, according to Reuters.
The ISS is aging, and it cannot last forever; but how he will eventually retire is unclear. If humans do not ultimately grant retreat from the station, for example by desorbiting it, the ever-threatening risk of impacts from space debris and micrometeorites will cause it to disappear, according to the Live Science partner site. Espace.com.
Still, the ISS is allowed to operate at least until December 2024, and technically, to fly until the end of 2028, NASA officials told Space.com. “Additionally, our analysis did not identify any issues that would prevent us from extending beyond 2028 if necessary.”
According to the Associated Press, a 6-hour spacewalk to work at a recently docked Russian science lab Nauka, scheduled for Thursday, is still pending.
Originally posted on Live Science.
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