The ISS crew complained of an “unexpected smell” after docking with the Progress spacecraft.

According to the statement, Roscosmos cosmonauts decided to close the airlocks of the Poisk multifunctional module, thus isolating it from the Russian segment of the ISS. Although the NASA report did not describe the nature of the smell, the Russianspaceweb portal noted that the smell was “toxic” and the station crew requested an emergency meeting with the Space Flight Control Center in Houston about it.

Some time after Poisk’s isolation, the filtration systems on the ISS were activated, running on all modules for about half an hour. According to the portal, American astronaut Don Pettit reported a smell similar to paint in the third node of the American segment of the station, but its origin is still unknown.

Roscosmos did not comment on the situation.

This is not the first incident related to Russian participation in the ISS: previously, in February 2023 and December 2022, coolant leaks were recorded from the Russian Soyuz MS-22 and Progress MS-21 freighters. A radiator leak was also noticed in October 2023 in the newest Nauka module docked to the station in 2021. The Russian side then explained the leaks by “external influences” in the form of micrometeorite impacts or damage from contact with space debris .

Progress spacecraft are one of the main suppliers of supplies to the ISS: they have flown to the station 88 times to date and previously served the Soviet Salyut and Mir stations.