NASA has confirmed that an audio clip of an astronaut in distress that was widely shared on social media was a simulated audio accidentally broadcast on its YouTube channel.
In the footage, which is intended to be used for training purposes, astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) can be heard saying that their chances of survival are “slender”.
The footage was broadcast on Wednesday evening, sparking online speculation that there may have been an emergency in space, but NASA said everyone on the ISS was safe.
“This audio was accidentally transmitted from an ongoing simulation in which the crew and ground teams are training for various scenarios in space and is not related to an actual emergency,” the ISS X page states.
Private company SpaceX Post to social media too It was announced that no emergency occurred on board the ISS.
The incident, which occurred at 11.28pm BST, led some to believe that a real astronaut may have been suffering from decompression sickness in space.
Fake audio usually first emerges from fake sources, but this one was broadcast on an official NASA channel, giving it added credibility.
In audio shared on social media, a person can be heard asking the ISS crew to help the astronaut get into his spacesuit, check his pulse and provide him with oxygen.
NASA confirmed that the audio was shared in error, but did not independently verify whether the recording shared online was the same one that was broadcast.
Decompression sickness, also known as “decompression sickness,” is a problem typically associated with scuba diving, in which changes in external pressure cause air bubbles to form inside the body.
Astronauts follow rules to remove nitrogen from their bodies to prevent this from happening in space.
NASA said the ISS crew were asleep at the time the audio was broadcast, preparing for a spacewalk at 1300 BST on Thursday.
It is expected to proceed as originally planned.