Russian supply glitch adds unexpected intrigue at the ISS

The Russian unmanned spacecraft Progress 90 delivered supplies to the Poisk module at the International Space Station a few days ago. This section is where Russian cosmonauts are typically stationed. After a successful docking, it was discovered that something was amiss. According to NASA, "cosmonauts from Roscosmos detected an unexpected odour and noticed small droplets of liquid."

Although details weren't disclosed, as NASA did not specify the exact nature of the smell or its source, the situation was concerning enough for the Russian ISS crew to close the hatch.

The unexpected "incident" initially prevented the retrieval of supplies from the module. An air purification procedure and testing with onboard sensors then began. – After observations, air purifiers and space station contamination sensors monitored the station's atmosphere, and the next day, flight controllers determined that the air quality inside the space station was at a normal level – explained NASA.

The crew attempted to reopen the hatch later that same day. It was confirmed that the Russian cosmonauts briefly donned protective suits for safety. This information was provided by the portal RussianSpaceWeb, which monitored communications between the Mission Control Center in Houston and the ISS. According to NASA, "all other operations on the space station are proceeding according to plan." The American Space Agency stated that the most likely source of the unusual odour detected earlier was the outgassing from materials inside the pressurised cargo section of the Progress 90 spacecraft.

The International Space Station has been orbiting above us for over 25 years. It is currently the largest structure humans have built-in space. The first modules of the station were launched into Earth's orbit in 1998. It consists of 16 main modules and achieved its final form in 2011 after a series of assembly flights, reaching a total mass of approximately 408,000 kilograms. Since its inception, the ISS has absorbed $150 billion, most of which was funded by NASA—the annual operation costs about $3 billion, with nearly half allocated to maintenance and operations. A permanent crew has been working on it since 2000, and seven people are aboard. The main power source for the station is solar cells, and thanks to the solar panels, it reflects so much light that the ISS is visible from Earth as an object moving across the sky.

According to the latest information provided by NASA, the future operation of the ISS is uncertain; the agency intends to maintain the operational role of the station until around 2030, as it anticipates that by then, American private space companies will have developed sufficiently to carry out tasks in low Earth orbit, which have thus far been performed on the ISS.