A spacewalk to repair a faulty ISS antenna had to be cancelled
Two NASA astronauts were preparing to leave the International Space Station for a second spacewalk attempt, but was again suspended due to a worrying malfunction with the spacesuit. Fortunately, the team was not in danger at any time.
This is not the first time that the mission has been postponed, as two days earlier, another one had to be cancelled due to problems of “discomfort with the suit”. The astronauts had planned to carry out a walk of more than six hours and removing a faulty electronics box from a communications antenna on the station’s starboard structure, will now have to wait for a third opportunity on July 2.
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Without spacewalk, spacesuit situation looks grim
A standard spacewalk procedure aboard the International Space Station had to be canceled last minute. Just before going out into the void, in the decompression chamber, two of the astronauts reported a serious failure in their spacesuits. “There’s water everywhere,” NASA’s live broadcast said. A hose in the cooling system of its mobility units was leaking.
The suits that astronauts wear to leave the International Space Station weigh 127 kilograms. They are specifically designed to protect the crew in extreme temperatures outside the laboratory and from solar radiation.. In addition, they provide oxygen and create a suitable atmosphere for the operator to work comfortably, and these problems only mean that the suits have aged and need to be changed.
The spacesuits currently in use are more than 40 years old and need a major upgrade, yet the company hired to design the suits has just pulled out of the deal.
Axiom Space is working together with Prada to develop the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Units (AxEMU). These suits are designed to support the next generation of astronauts to reach the Moon under the Artemis initiative. They represent a technological leap of 50 years compared to the mobile unit that allowed the first moon landing, but according to reports they may not arrive in time.
Other incidents that precede
- In May 2022, NASA canceled spacewalks outside the ISS after a series of potentially deadly incidents of water leaking into astronauts’ helmets during spacewalks.
- In 2013, ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano noticed a water leak inside his helmet, forcing an early end to his spacewalk. Parmitano was able to re-enter the station’s airlock, but was having difficulty breathing.
- The same suit worn by Parmitano nearly drowned another astronaut two years later. NASA astronaut Terry Virts, wearing spacesuit #3005, noticed free-floating water droplets. and a moisture-wicking pad on his helmet at the end of his spacewalk.
