NASA Says Astronauts Return to US Side of Space Station After False Alarm

WASHINGTON, January 15 (Sputnik) — Three US crew members of the International Space Station who had taken refuge in the Russian section of the station on Wednesday following what was thought to be an ammonia leak have been told that it is safe to return to the US segment, NASA said.

“The crew will re-enter the station’s US segment today wearing the same protective masks they donned earlier today and will conduct measurements of the atmosphere to make sure there are no traces of ammonia present,” NASA said on its blog Wednesday evening. The Space Station later said on Twitter no ammonia was detected.

An ammonia leak warning in the US segment of the International Space Station (ISS) early on Wednesday forced three US astronauts to the Russian side. NASA later said indications of the leak are likely a false alarm caused by a computer error in one of the sensors. NASA said after the astronauts turned a relay box off and on the error message was cleared.

The current ISS crew comprises six specialists from the United States, Russia and the European Union. It includes mission commander Barry Wilmore and flight engineer Terry Virts from NASA; flight engineers Elena Serova, Alexander Samokutyaev and Anton Shkaplerov from Roscosmos; and flight engineer Samantha Cristoforetti from the European Space Agency.