It is not the first time that NASA has canceled a spacewalk or extravehicular activity on one of its missions. It had already happened last year due to a Deadly Blob also on the International Space Station (ISS) and now there is this new cancellation of a ride that would have been NASA’s 90th on the ISS. The reason? “Discomfort with the space suit“, according to a statement from the US agency. What this specifically means or implies is still unclear.
According to the statement, the astronauts scheduled for the excursion, Tracy C. Dyson and Matthew Dominick, had been fully equipped before the mission was canceled, but an hour before they took off their suits and canceled the mission.
So far, NASA has not released any further details, but Reuters reported that just minutes before the announcement, another NASA astronaut, Mike Barratt, was heard saying: asking flight controllers for a private line to discuss a medical topic.
It is not clear if this is related to the cancellation and we also do not know which astronaut was having the discomfort problem. At least it doesn’t seem like it was anything too serious. In its update, NASA said that all “station crew members are healthy and the spacesuits work as expected.”
What is not known is whether there will be a recovery spacewalk, but the space agency did confirm that the next one will take place on June 24. This is not the first time that extravehicular activity on the ISS has been suspended due to problems with the suits. In 2019, NASA’s first all-female spacewalk was somewhat embarrassingly postponed when one of the astronauts discovered that her spacesuit was the wrong “size.”
What is more distressing, In 2022, the agency had to suspend almost all spacewalks scheduled after water was found in the helmet of an astronaut who had just completed a ride.
Although these are not serious incidents, they are rekindle the discussion about when NASA It will finally update its astronauts’ suits, something that seems increasingly necessary.
