THE HAGUE, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- A Dutch astronaut accidentally dialed 911, an emergency telephone number in many countries, from the International Space Station, reported local media.

Andre Kuipers, a 60-year-old astronaut with the European Space Agency, said he missed a number when he was trying to make an international call from space.

"First you dial the 9 for an outside line, and then 011 for an international line," he told Dutch public broadcaster Nederlandse Omroep Stichting. "I made a mistake (missing the 0), and the next day I received an email message: Did you call 911?"

Alhough Kuipers hung up immediately when he realized his error, the call triggered an alert at NASA, which checked the room where the call was issued but found no one there.

According to NASA, astronauts in the International Space Station are able to make calls at any time.