What To Know
- Well known in the field of scuba diving in the event of surfacing too quickly, this type of problem occurs when the ambient pressure around the human body suddenly decreases, causing the formation of bubbles of gas dissolved in the tissues and blood, particularly nitrogen.
- ” The recording, which came from a simulation channel used for training ground and on-board crews, was therefore nothing more or less thana simple ground training exercise which took place in Hawthorne, California, and inadvertently releasedNASA also assured that the nine members of the team present in the Station (Oleg Kononenko, Tracy Dyson, Mike Barratt, Matthew Dominick, Jeanette Epps, Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin, Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams) have not not been involved in this simulation and were resting in preparation for a planned spacewalk that same day.
- This blunder does not fail to shed light on the continuous training that teams on board the ISS and on the ground must undergo to ensure proper management of possible emergency situations that could arise and provide protocols to ensure a reactive response in the event of an alert.
Between the Air leaks in Russian segment of ISS and the increasingly high risks of collision with space junk In this area of the sky located about 400 km from our planet (in low Earth orbit), fears for the safety of the astronauts on board are never far away. Recently, however, it is for a completely different reason that the general public has turned a worried eye towards space. Indeed, an emergency medical message broadcast live was mistakenly leaked on NASA‘s YouTube channel, suggesting the worst for the health of one of the people on board the International Space Station. Fortunately, the American space agency wants to be reassuring, but then, what happened?
A worrying message from the ISS?
On the night of June 12 to 13, 2024, at midnight in France, a eight minute recording fearing the worst for a member of the ISS crew was broadcast live on NASA’s YouTube channel. A female voice urged people to put ” the commander in his suit ” before promptly ordering ” check his pulse “, and then provide him with pure oxygen. The message then continued by drawing up a report whose vital prognosis was precarious and mentioned an emergency evacuation to a Spanish hospital after a water landing.
A decompression problem
The protocol recommended by the flight surgeon here aimed to treat what appeared to be a decompression sickness. Well known in the field of scuba diving in the event of surfacing too quickly, this type of problem occurs when the ambient pressure around the human body suddenly decreases, causing the formation of bubbles of gas dissolved in the tissues and blood, particularly nitrogen. This can occur when the integrity of the cabin or spacesuit is compromisedcausing a rapid drop in pressure. Astronauts can then experience serious symptoms, such as joint pain, tissue swelling, loss of consciousness and air embolisms, due to the sudden drop in pressure in their pressurized habitat. Without prompt intervention, exposure to the vacuum of space can then be fatal within seconds to minutesbecause body fluids vaporize and oxygen dissipates. So it is a risk taken very seriously in the hostile space environment in which astronauts operate. Due to the urgency of the situation described and the realism of the recording, it quickly circulated on social networks, with Internet users worrying about a crisis situation on board the space station.
Credits: Dima_zel/iStock
More fear than harm in the end
Shortly after the broadcast, the official ISS account assured Twitter (today X) that ” There are no emergencies aboard the International Space Station. This audio was inadvertently hijacked from an ongoing simulation in which crew members and ground teams are training for various scenarios in space. ” The recording, which came from a simulation channel used for training ground and on-board crews, was therefore nothing more or less thana simple ground training exercise which took place in Hawthorne, California, and inadvertently releasedNASA also assured that the nine members of the team present in the Station (Oleg Kononenko, Tracy Dyson, Mike Barratt, Matthew Dominick, Jeanette Epps, Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin, Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams) have not not been involved in this simulation and were resting in preparation for a planned spacewalk that same day. The agency also took care not to republish the audio clip in question so as not to cause further panic, although it can still be heard in some posts shared online.
Essential exercises for safety on board the ISS
This blunder does not fail to shed light on the continuous training that teams on board the ISS and on the ground must undergo to ensure proper management of possible emergency situations that could arise and provide protocols to ensure a reactive response in the event of an alert. It should also be remembered that the station can now be brought to welcome the public and has also received its first civilian crew very recently, in January 2024. Good preparation is therefore a key element for ensure the safety of people on board in preparation for any eventuality.
