Nasa has said there was “no emergency situation” aboard the International Space Station after it inadvertently aired audio of a training simulation suggesting a commander needed medical attention for decompression sickness.
The six-minute audio was streamed live at 2.28am UAE time on Thursday on the agency's YouTube channel, that has more than 12.5 million subscribers.
Nasa runs a 24-hour live broadcast, which mostly shows footage from the orbiting laboratory and the astronauts' activities.
A flight surgeon was heard asking a crew member “how much oxygen is left?” and saying that the commander needed to be put into his spacesuit.
“I think at this point because the hyperbaric exposure is the big problem. And, so, I would recommend trying to get him in the suit as soon as possible and giving oxygen as best as able during that process,” the officer said.
The audio sparked panic among social media users, with one posting on X: “This stuff with the International Space Station has me on edge. I hope no one has died.”
Another user posted: “This sounds really serious. Scary things happening on the International Space Station.”
Nasa released a statement two hours after the audio was leaked, saying that there was no emergency and that the clip was accidentally released.
“At approximately 5.28pm CDT, audio was aired on the Nasa live-stream from a simulation audio channel on the ground indicating a crew member was experiencing effects related to decompression sickness (DCS),” Nasa said on social media.
“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.
“The International Space Station crew members were in their sleep period at the time. All remain healthy and safe, and tomorrow’s spacewalk will start at 8am EDT as planned.”
The space station has been continuously occupied since 2000. It is a multi-billion dollar project by Nasa, the European Space Agency, Russia, Japan and Canada.
It is rare for an emergency event to take place aboard the ISS, with several protocols in place to protect the astronauts.
During situations where there is a debris risk, for example, crew members are required to seek shelter in their spacecrafts, which are docked at the ISS.
Ground control also uses the thrusters on the station to manoeuvre it up or down in case debris is heading towards it.
