question:  What goes wrong with the calking compound?
context: [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Worlds of If Science Fiction, September 1962. General Finogenov notified Major Winship that the underground blast was scheduled for the following morning. Major Winship, after receiving the message, discussed precautions with the three other Americans. Next morning, before the sunlight exploded, the four of them donned their space suits and went and sat outside the dome, waiting. "Help?" " Nyet ," said Major Winship, exhausting his Russian. "When?" "Boom—boom!" said Pinov. "He's done it deliberately," said Capt. Wilkins, the eldest of the four Americans. "Ah, it's all Russian. "I'll try again," Major Winship said and switched to the emergency channel. "Base Gagarin? "Hell, Charlie, I feel stupid sitting out here," Capt. Lawler said. The darkness slowly filled with air, and the temperature inside the suit declined steadily. His foot was lifted for the second step when the floor beneath him rose and fell gently, pitching him forward, off balance. It then abated to something in excess of normal. "Well," Lt. Chandler commented, "even though we didn't build this thing to withstand a moonquake, it seems to have stood up all right." Air currents whisked it away and plastered it against a riveted seam of the dome. It pulsed as though it were breathing and then it ruptured. It's on your right side, midway up. The sheet began slowly to slide downward, then it fell away completely and lay limply on the floor. Electrical cables trailed loosely along the walls and were festooned from the ceiling, radiating from the connections to the outside solar cells. After repeatedly assuring you there was no danger of a quake—and then to have something like this happen. Well, to hell with them, let's get this leak fixed. Squeezed in front of the massive transmitter, Capt. Wilkins had energized the circuits. "It's around here somewhere.
output:  It ends up being epoxy resin, which activates and starts melting.
options:  It ends up being epoxy resin, which activates and starts melting.  They're unsure how to read the instructions and mix it incorrectly.  It's the wrong substance. Because of the language barrier, the Russians set them off with the wrong barrel.  The barrel doesn't fit in the space they need it to.