An emergency broadcasted live to 12 million followers has had listeners panicking about a crisis in space.
The leaked audio was aired on the NASA YouTube channel which captured the sounds of an astronaut in distress.
In the clip, a female voice could be heard instructing other crew to, “get commander back in his suit”. She then ordered them to check his pulse and provide oxygen, the commander’s state was then heard to be described as “tenuous”.
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The worrying transmission alarmed people listening and the news spread quickly around social media.
On X, formerly Twitter, one concerned user posted: “Some very odd, and disturbing, audio just aired on the ISS YouTube feed.”
Another worried person posted a photo of their high heart rate on their Apple Watch, commenting: “My pulse right now after hearing words from ISS audio on a random Wednesday evening.
“Whoever the commander is, keep them in your thoughts and prayers right now.
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“We don’t need a medical emergency the evening before a spacewalk.”
The astronaut in distress appeared to be suffering from decompression sickness, which is caused by nitrogen or other gas bubbles in the bloodstream when there is a change in atmospheric pressure.
This can make the person feel weak, suffer paralysis, numbness and can be potentially fatal.
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Fears were allayed though when the official International Space Station account on X made a statement, revealing that the audio had been from a simulation.
They said: “There is no emergency situation going on aboard the International Space Station. At approximately 5.28 p.m. CDT, audio was aired on the NASA livestream from a simulation audio channel on the ground indicating a crew member was experiencing effects related to decompression sickness (DCS).
“This audio was inadvertently misrouted from an ongoing simulation where crew members and ground teams train for various scenarios in space and is not related to a real emergency.
“The International Space Station crew members were in their sleep period at the time. All remain healthy and safe, and tomorrow’s spacewalk will start at 8 a.m. EDT as planned.”
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Space fanatics on the ground were relieved to find out that it had all been in fact a training scenario unrelated to crew members aboard the ISS.
On X, one user posted: “That’s a relief super glad that everyone is ok and safe and healthy.”
And another added: “That’s great news! The world was scared for a brief time.”
We can all collectively breathe a sigh of relief that there is no real emergency in space - it turns out even NASA have technical blunders!