Oooops, better send someone back there to clean up.
Posted on 09/18/2006 10:27:32 AM PDT by raygun
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - A spill of toxic liquids aboard International Space Station on Monday set off a short-lived emergency and fears of a fire aboard the outpost.
The station crew was cleaning up from one group of visitors and preparing for their next guests when they smelled toxic fumes, flight engineer Jeff Williams and commander Pavel Vinogradov reported to ground control teams in Houston and Moscow.
"The situation is stable right now. There's an obvious smell. There was never any smoke. It was perhaps wrongly assumed to be a fire initially," Williams said.
The leak occurred near a Russian oxygen-generator, known as an Elektron, which works by splitting water into oxygen for breathing and hydrogen that is dumped overboard.
The leaked substance is believed to be potassium hydroxide, an irritant that is not life-threatening, said space station manager Mike Suffredini.
The crew also activated the station's emergency system, which shut down ventilation and contained the toxic spill to the Zvezda service module where the Elektron is located.
The crew reported a toxic smell in the Destiny science laboratory, so some fumes did spread, Suffredini said.
Vinogradov, Williams and Europe's Thomas Reiter donned surgical masks, gloves and goggles for protection then set up a filtering system to clean the air.
The cause of the spill has not been determined, Suffredini said.
[emphasis mine]
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Imagine if some hydrazine "spilled", eh?
Thought that's why they sent a woman along as part of the crew?
They need a dog up there so they blame him for the odd smells.
Call Hazmat.
Although the U.S. Government and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) do not classify Dihydrogen Monoxide as a toxic or carcinogenic substance (as it does with better known chemicals such as hydrochloric acid and benzene), DHMO is a constituent of many known toxic substances, diseases and disease-causing agents, environmental hazards and can even be lethal to humans in quantities as small as a thimbleful.
NASA has issued a press release reassuring everyone that the astronauts won't be allowed to return until NASA is sure the toxic chemicals haven't turned any into space mutants.
Could've been worse, the way I figure it; sensors could've detected unusually large concentrations of extra-terrestrial gas.
Is the Muslim there yet?
TANG! That stuff was nasty.
Corrosive - may cause serious burns. Harmful by ingestion, inhalation and in contact with skin. If the solid or solution comes into contact with the eyes, serious eye damage may result.
ORL-RAT LD50 365 mg/kg
SKN-HMN 50mg/24h sev
SKN-RBT 50mg/24h/sev
EYE-RBT 1mg/24h/rinse mod
SKN-GPG 50mg/24h/sev
Risk phrases:
R20 R21 R22 R35 R41:
R20 Harmful by inhalation.
R21 Harmful in contact with skin.
R22 Harmful if swallowed.
R35 Causes severe burns.
R41 Risk of serious damage to the eyes.
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tox·ic (tksk) (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved September 18, 2006, from Dictionary.com website:
adj.
Of, relating to, or caused by a toxin or other poison: a toxic condition; toxic hepatitis. Capable of causing injury or death, especially by chemical means; poisonous: food preservatives that are toxic in concentrated amounts; a dump for toxic industrial wastes. See Synonyms at poisonous.
tox·in (tksn) (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved September 18, 2006, from Dictionary.com website:
n.
A poisonous substance, especially a protein, that is produced by living cells or organisms and is capable of causing disease when introduced into the body tissues but is often also capable of inducing neutralizing antibodies or antitoxins.
Poison, toxin, venom are terms for any substance that injures the health or destroys life when absorbed into the system, esp. of a higher animal. Poison is the general word: a poison for insects. A toxin is a poison produced by an organism; it is esp. used in medicine in reference to disease-causing bacterial secretions: A toxin produces diphtheria.
You learn something new everyday, eh? I thought something toxic by definition had to be lethal. So I guess they really did have a toxic spill aboard the ISS today. Huh. Who would've thunk it?
Fart in a space suit warning
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