Strange smell stalls cargo delivery for astronauts on International Space Station

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Published  November 28, 2024 9:08pm EST
FOX 35 Orlando
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Strange smell stalls cargo delivery for astronauts

A strange smell stalled space operations on the International Space Station this week. NASA had to delay unloading a Russian spacecraft cargo delivery because of the concerning odor.

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - A strange smell stalled space operations on the International Space Station this week. 

NASA had to delay unloading a Russian spacecraft cargo delivery because of the concerning odor.

The good news is that all the astronauts were safe during the ordeal and can enjoy a special Thanksgiving feast in orbit. 

Local space experts still want to see the United States and Russia continue to investigate what caused the uncommon odor because the Russian ISS cargo docking didn’t go as planned over the weekend.

"If it was a poisonous gas, that would have been extremely serious," said space writer, Ken Kremer. He’s the managing editor of Space UpClose. 

An unusual smell stopped the astronauts from unloading the delivery and forced them to close the hatch while officials made sure the crew wasn't in danger. 

"The ISS is a contained vessel, that’s not like here on earth where you can run away and escape," he said. 

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The stall in space didn’t last long. NASA posted an update on social media on Monday, saying in part:

"Space station air scrubbers and contaminant sensors monitored the station’s atmosphere following the observation, and on Sunday, flight controllers determined air quality inside the space station was at normal levels."

Kremer thinks the smell probably had to do with an error on earth. 

"Probably there was some leaking material out gassing, gas evaporating from something," he said. 

Kremer ultimately thinks something in the cargo delivery wasn’t packed right.

"They can go back and look and see if something, maybe a cap, wasn’t screwed quite right," said Kremer. 

He’d like to see crews on earth review pictures and data on how the cargo was loaded up because the stinky smell caused quite a bit of concern.

"It has to be taken seriously," he concluded. 

A big takeaway from this stinky situation going into the holidays is to double-check all of your own Christmas gifts. 

Make sure they’re packed up very securely and aren’t leaking because no one wants to deal with strange smells on earth or in space.

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