False emergency and fire alarms went off due to error in SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule

Several emergency and fire alarms reportedly went off in the International Space Station on Wednesday morning over a fault in the SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience capsule. All security protocols were activated but it turned out to be a false alarm.

according to Chris Bergin, editor of the NASASpaceFlight website and reporter Tyler Gray, according to the ISS, a “Single Event Upset” in one of the Crew Dragon Resilience capsule power sources caused a processor to reset itself and send data which the ISS interpreted as alarm signals. This SEU would according to Gray have been the result of a sudden increase in ionizing space radiation. In such a ‘Single Event Upset’, an escaped ionized molecule can cause nearby electronics to become confused, resulting in a change in values, a so-called bit flip.

Shortly after the alarm signals, the protocols associated with the alarm signals came into effect, according to Bergin, but it soon became apparent that all values ​​in the onboard systems of the coupled spacecraft were normal. NASA confirmed the incident on one of its official blog pages. The space agency emphasizes that the crew members of the ISS were never in danger.

Update March 27, 2021, 2.30 pm: Incident date updated and NASA confirmation added, courtesy of Mschamp.