NASA denies crew medical distress following 'disturbing' leaked audio

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
13 Jun 2024 09:26
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The US Space Agency has confirmed the leaked broadcast was part of a space drill, affirming that all members were safe and healthy.

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Workers on scaffolding repaint the NASA logo near the top of the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Wednesday, May 20, 2020. (AP)

NASA denied the occurrence of an emergency situation on board the International Space Station (ISS) after a live stream showed a crew member in "extreme medical distress" during a medical drill.

The incident gained the attention of social media users and prompted alarmed responses, forcing the agency to deny the emergency in a post on X, claiming, "Audio was inadvertently misrouted from an ongoing simulation where crew members and ground teams train for various scenarios in space."

There is no emergency situation going on aboard the International Space Station. At approximately 5:28 p.m. CDT, audio was aired on the NASA livestream from a simulation audio channel on the ground indicating a crew member was experiencing effects related to decompression…
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) June 13, 2024

On Wednesday evening, NASA's live stream was interrupted, displaying a message relaying that the video would continue when "connection is reestablished". Shortly after, an unnamed flight surgeon working at the SpaceX mission control center in California appeared to be issuing a warning to others on board the ISS regarding a serious incident involving a commander experiencing decompression sickness.

The audio said, "So if we could get the commander back in his suit, get it sealed … for suited hyperbaric treatment … Prior to sealing, closing the visor and pressurising the suit, I would like you to check his pulse one more time."

She also expresses her concerns regarding her prognosis, but mentions that it was "tenuous".

Social media users and popular space accounts, which had been watching the live stream were quick to raise concerns and go as far as to call it "odd and disturbing". A space editor at tech publication Ars Technica, Eric Berger, described the live stream as scary.

However, many others noted that the incident was likely a simulation, later confirmed by SpaceX, which ascertained that all crew members were safe and healthy.

NASA stated that the simulation had no connection to any actual emergency, and that the ISS crew members were actually in their "sleep period" when the drill was unintentionally broadcasted.