“Distress” message from an astronaut sent by mistake, confirms NASA

NASA has confirmed that an audio clip widely shared on social media, featuring astronauts in distress, was a simulation broadcast in error on its YouTube channel.

The clip, intended for training purposes, included a voice saying that an astronaut on the International Space Station (ISS) had a “slime” chance of survival.

Wednesday night’s broadcast sparked speculation online about a possible space emergency. However, NASA has now reassured the public that all members of the ISS are safe.

“This audio was inadvertently diverted from an ongoing simulation in which crew members and ground teams are training for various scenarios in space and is not related to a real emergency,” said the American space agency.

SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, also confirmed on social media that there was no emergency aboard the ISS.

The incident led some to believe that an astronaut was suffering from decompression sickness in space. This belief was fueled by the fact that the audio was broadcast on an official NASA channel, rather than from questionable sources.

The audio, widely shared on social media, showed someone asking the ISS crew to help an astronaut put on his spacesuit, check his pulse and provide him with oxygen.

Decompression sickness, commonly associated with scuba diving, occurs when bubbles form inside the body due to changes in external pressure. Astronauts follow protocols to remove nitrogen from their bodies to prevent this in space.

NASA said ISS crew members were asleep at the time of the broadcast in preparation for a spacewalk on Thursday at 1 p.m., which will go ahead as planned.