Space Station Initiates Emergency System

The crew of the International Space Station pulled the emergency alarm and put on protective gear after fumes were detected. The crew initially though it was smoke, but have since determined it to be potassium hydroxide, an irritant. NASA says there is no danger to life.

"We don't exactly know the nature of the spill … but the crew is doing well," said Mike Suffredini, NASA's space station program manager. "It's not a life-threatening material."

The crew first reported smoke but it turned out to be an irritant, potassium hydroxide, leaking from an oxygen vent, Suffredini said.

The crew donned surgical gloves and masks but did not have to put on gas masks or oxygen masks, Suffredini said.

"Things are calming down," NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries said.

Because the station's emergency system was activated, the ventilation system was shut down, but ground operations were working to get it back up, Suffredini said.

The potassium hydroxide, a corrosive that can cause serious burns and can be harmful if inhaled, was to be cleaned up and wrapped up in two rubber bags, Suffredini said.

Potassium hydroxide can be used to power batteries and is also known as potash lye.

The crew in the orbiting lab 220 miles above Earth had been working on a Russian oxygen-generating system known as the Elektron, NASA said.

The system has given the space station headaches before. It had operated on-and-off for months before breaking down last spring. In June, the crew tried to reactivate it, with mixed results, after replacing a hydrogen vent valve outside during a spacewalk.

It might be time to get something different up there rather than keep trying to use a system that appears to be fairly dangerous.