All It Takes Is A Small Amount
Nitrogen tetroxide might kill a person even if they only inhale a tiny amount of it. After all, this can lead to the buildup of fluid in the lungs. Once the recovery boat got closer to the capsule, the crew detected the oxidizer by the craft. The crew had to purge the area and waited a little while before they finally tried to extract the pair of astronauts. Unfortunately, the team had no control over the unwanted onlookers who went out to the water to see the return of the capsules. Neither did the Coast Guard. This was a very dangerous moment for everyone in the area, although the Commercial Crew Program manager Steve Stich said that the amount of fumes were “within limits.”
All It Takes Is A Small Amount
Outside Of The Capsule
Stich did admit that some fault contained the fumes outside the capsule. “We think there may be some mechanism where it’s getting trapped into the service section from thruster firings during entry,” explained the NASA manager. “We’ll go figure out a way to handle it better on the next flight, perhaps starting with a purge as soon as we get on the vehicle.” We are indescribably relieved that nothing bad took place. Despite this, Bridenstine iterated that the unexpected guests put themselves at risk by going there. “What is not common is having passersby approach the vehicle close range with nitrogen tetroxide in the atmosphere. That’s not something that is good,” said the NASA administrator. “And we need to make sure that we’re warning people not to get close to the spacecraft in the future.”
Outside Of The Capsule
