The International Space Station gave everyone on Earth quite a scare (Picture: Getty/Science Photo Libra)
Everyone has their own internet hobbies, and for some, it’s tuning into Nasa’s livestream from the International Space Station (ISS).
And those who do, got quite a shock last night when what came crackling over the radio appeared to be the sound of an astronaut in distress.
Just before 10.30pm on Wednesday, the live YouTube channel broadcast audio that suggested a crew member was experiencing decompression sickness (DCS), Nasa reported on X.
A female voice asks crew members to ‘get commander back in his suit’, check his pulse and provide him with oxygen.
So if we could get the commander back in his suit, get it sealed… for suited hyperbaric treatment…,’ said the speaker. ‘Prior to sealing, closing the visor and pressurising the suit, I would like you to check his pulse one more time.’
Later, the same voice said his prognosis was ‘tenuous’, according to copies of the audio posted on social media.
Nasa did not verify the recordings or republish the audio.
Several space enthusiasts posted a link to the audio on X with warnings that there was a serious emergency on the ISS.
In an unverified recording, a female voice is also heard saying: ‘Understand that his is a best-effort treatment, and so whatever you can do is going to be better than doing nothing.’
However, Nasa said: ‘This audio was inadvertently misrouted from an ongoing simulation where crew members and ground teams train for various scenarios in space and is not related to a real emergency.
‘There is no emergency situation going on aboard the International Space Station.’
The audio came as the astronauts prepared for a spacewalk (Picture: Nasa/Getty)
DCS, which is caused by nitrogen or other gas bubbles in the bloodstream due to a change in atmospheric pressure, can affect the central nervous system and is potentially fatal. It is commonly known as ‘the bends’, and often affects divers when they surface too quickly.
Crew members on the ISS were in their sleep period at the time of the audio broadcast as they prepared for a spacewalk at 8am Eastern Time, 2pm BST, on Thursday, the ISS post said.
However, plenty of ISS fans on Earth were not asleep, and had quite a shock hearing the drill.
Dr Malcolm Davis, a space security analyst, wrote on X: ‘Developing emergency on the #ISS #spacestation involving one of the crew having decompression sickness.’
Space scientist Heather Smith posted a picture of her smart watch with the words: ‘My pulse right now after hearing words from ISS audio on a random Wednesday evening.
‘Whoever the Cmdr is, keep them in your thoughts and prayers right now.
‘We don’t need a medical emergency the evening before a spacewalk.’
Thankfully, Nasa soon clarified the situation, and not a moment too soon for those listening.
Jacqui Goddard, US correspondent for The Times, said on X: ‘That was one horrible hour. Nasa accidentally made the private #ISS radio feed public in the midst of a simulated emergency in which an astronaut was said to be sick/dead in a depressurisation episode.
‘Hoping the radio feed’s the only switch they flick by mistake up there. Sheesh.’