Two NASA astronauts were preparing for a second attempt to exit the International Space Station (ISS), but it was again called off due to a worrying spacesuit malfunction.
NASA was forced to cancel a spacewalk on Monday due to a water leak in the service and cooling umbilical unit on astronaut Tracy Dyson’s space suit. “There’s water everywhere,” Dyson was heard saying during a live broadcast from the ISS, pointing to an alarming malfunction in the space station’s aging suits that has put other astronauts at risk in the past. NASA is in desperate need of new spacesuits for its astronauts, but in a disturbing development, the company contracted to design the spacesuits has just pulled out of the contract.
The two astronauts, Dyson and Mike Barratt, had not yet left the airlock when the problem occurred. However, the transition chamber had to be re-pressurized as the pair were on their way to the vacuum of space. Fortunately, the astronauts were safe.
This was the second spacewalk delayed in a week due to a spacesuit problem; On June 13, another spacewalk was called off due to “spacesuit discomfort issues,” according to NASA.
The astronauts on board the ISS are continuous space suit error checks, troubleshooting and inspecting suit components. The upcoming spacewalk is scheduled for July 2 pending an ongoing investigation.
Clearly, NASA astronauts need some new suits; currently used spacesuits are more than 40 years and overdue for a major upgrade. The space agency also appears to be running out of fully functional spacesuits aboard the ISS, with only 18 usable units currently available for use by astronauts on the space station, according to a 2017 report. message.
In May 2022 NASA suspended spacewalks outside the ISS following a series of potentially life-threatening incidents where water leaked into astronauts’ helmets during their spacewalks. NASA astronaut Raja Chari and European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer were installing hoses on a radiator valve beam module outside the space station on March 23, 2022, when Maurer, who was venturing on his first spacewalk, noticed water and moisture inside his visor. the end of a seven-hour space journey.
“NASA is thinking about the risk of these suits as they age [spacesuit] is currently off-limits for planned EVAs pending an investigation into what they discover,” Susan Helms, a former NASA astronaut who serves on NASA’s Aviation Safety Advisory Panel, said at the time. Space Agency resumed spacewalks to the ISS shortly after after an investigation into the leaks.
This was not the first incident involving excess water. Back in 2013, ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano noticed a water leak inside his helmet this forced an early termination of the spacewalk. Parmitan managed to re-enter the ISS airlock but had difficulty breathing as 1.5 liters of water had formed in his helmet. “I can feel it covering the sponge on my headphones and I wonder if I’m going to lose audio contact. The water also almost completely covered the front of my visor, clinging to it and obscuring my view,” Parmitano recounted chillingly. blog post later.
The same suit worn by Parmitano nearly drowned another astronaut two years later. NASA astronaut Terry Virts wearing space suit #3005, they noticed free-floating drops of water and a wet absorbent pad in his helmet at the end of his spacewalk.
NASA is working with its commercial partners to develop new spacesuits for its astronauts on the ISS, but it’s taking longer than expected. In June 2022, the space agency awarded contracts with Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace to produce spacesuits with a potential combined value of $3.5 billion. The suits were supposed to debut in 2025, but Collins Aerospace is about to pull out of the contract, SpaceNews reported on Wednesday.
“After careful evaluation, Collins Aerospace and NASA have mutually agreed to descope exploration Extravehicular Activity Services (xEVAS) task orders,” the company wrote in a statement to SpaceNews. It’s unclear how NASA will proceed from here.
IN message Published in January 2019, NASA’s Aviation Safety Advisory Panel reviewed the growing challenges of spacesuits. “It is an undeniable fact that the 40-year-old EMUs used in ISS operations are reaching the end of their useful lives,” the report said. “NASA cannot maintain the necessary ongoing operations in low Earth orbit without fully functional EVA suits.”
If you want more space flights in your life, follow us X and Gizmodo’s tab dedicated Space Flight Page.