Russia, US in constant contact after false alarm at space station

Moscow: Russian federal space agency Roscosmos and US space agency NASA are maintaining constant contact after a false alarm triggered an emergency situation at the International Space Station (ISS), Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Wednesday.

A meeting was convened among ISS crew onboard, Roscosmos, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and European Space Agency (ESA) to keep abreast of the latest development at the space station, Xinhua reported.

An alarm at about 4 a.m. indicated a possible ammonia leak in the US part of the ISS, triggering evacuation of astronauts to the Russian section. The alarm later turned out to be false.

The latest blog posted on official NASA website showed that the crew was allowed by ISS mission management team to return to the US segment. Earlier, NASA said in a statement that the crew members "are safe and in good shape".

Measurements of the cabin atmosphere confirmed there is no ammonia indication in the segment, while flight controllers are continuing to analyse data to clarify what triggered the alarm, according to NASA.

Roscosmos has confirmed that the Russian segment was safe from air pollution, while a representative of the Mission Control in Russia's city of Korolyov explained that there is enough room and supplies for all six crew members in the Russia segment.

ISS crew currently consists of two Americans, one Italian and three Russians.