Posted: Sun, Dec 7, 2003, 5:15 PM ET (2215 GMT)
NASA officials said Friday that the environment inside the International Space Station is safe, easing concerns that came to light several weeks ago. Officials said that air samples from the station, returned last month on a Soyuz spacecraft carrying the Expedition 7 crew, show no evidence of high levels of hazardous contaminants. Those tests were carried out by Russian scientists, observed by Americans; additional air and water samples have been sent to Houston for more testing. Concerns about the environment on the station were raised in October because of faulty environmental monitoring equipment on the station. Some NASA experts voiced concerns about approving the launch of the next station crew, although NASA did approve the Expedition 8 launch.

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•  New York Times article