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International Space Station: Never extinguish fires with water
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An incident occurred in the Russian part of the International Space Station.
In the night of Thursday at 3.55 a.m. CEST, Rauch triggered an alarm signal.
The origin was apparently in batteries that should be automatically charged in the "Zvezda" module, in German star, announced the Russian space agency Roskosmos on Thursday morning.
In a live stream from the US space agency NASA, cosmonaut Oleg Nowizki could also be heard describing the smell of burned plastic.
The smoke moved to the American part of the ISS, which flies around 400 kilometers above the earth.
In order to prevent possible smoke pollution, according to Roskosmos, a filter was switched on to clean the air.
All systems worked normally, the crew could go about their everyday life, as the authority assured.
As planned, the crew should go on a space walk later that day.
A fire on the ISS would be a great danger. In contrast to fire on earth, a flame in weightlessness would be smaller and spread out spherically and glow faintly blue. This is due to the combustion gases, which without the action of gravity do not flow away from the flame as easily as they do on earth and worsen the oxygen supply. A small flame in space would then normally suffocate and extinguish after a while on its own combustion gases. But there are large ventilation systems on the ISS that ensure a constant draft and would rekindle a fire.
That is why the ISS is just as protected against fire as buildings on earth - but there are a few things to consider.
Fire blankets and powder-based fire extinguishers are available.
CO₂ extinguishers could pose a threat to astronauts as they could choke on them.
Extinguishing with water would also be dangerous, as the drops would fly around due to the weightlessness and could lead to short circuits in the many electrical devices on the ISS, which could also be dangerous for the astronauts.
Matthias Maurer: Protection of the space station is a high priority
The German Esa astronaut Matthias Maurer also has to familiarize himself with the fire regulations. It is scheduled to take off for the ISS at the end of October on board a space capsule from the private US company SpaceX. During his time in space, Maurer and the other astronauts will carry out around a hundred experiments in weightlessness, including 36 from universities and industry in Germany. This includes, among other things, a muscle building suit, which is supposed to additionally stimulate the muscles through electrical impulses.
For the experiments, he has a schedule like in school, said Maurer on Thursday at a press conference in Cologne. However, there are also clear priorities for living and working in orbit. “The life of the astronauts is right at the forefront,” emphasized the materials scientist, who has been part of the Esa astronaut corps since 2015. Then came the protection of the space station, and the experiments only followed in third place.
For Maurer, working with the spacesuit was the hardest part of his training.
"The training underwater was very demanding, both physically and mentally," he said.
The 51-year-old is likely to get off the ISS wearing a Russian spacesuit.
Maurer takes part in the mission "Cosmic Kiss".
The NASA astronauts Raja Chari and Thomas Marshburn as well as the NASA astronaut Kayla Barron fly with it.
After six months in weightlessness, Maurer is scheduled to return to Earth in April.
joe / dpa