Nasa on Monday called off a spacewalk at the International Space Station after water leaked from an astronaut‘s spacesuit‘s cooling system.
Astronauts Tracy Dyson and Mike Barratt were preparing to exit the space station through the airlock hatch when an unexpected issue arose. As Dyson activated her spacesuit’s battery power, she noticed a malfunction in the cooling system, causing water to leak from the suit.
The incident occurred before the astronauts had the chance to venture outside the space station. Barratt described the situation saying, “There’s literally water everywhere here now.”
The objective of the spacewalk, which was scheduled to last nearly seven hours, was to remove a malfunctioning communications box and gather microbe samples from the exterior of the orbiting laboratory. However, the mission was cut short after only 30 minutes.
According to Nasa, the astronauts were not in any immediate danger due to the malfunction
Astronaut Dyson reported observing ice crystals emanating from the port on the SCU, resembling a snow machine. “I could see the ice crystals were flowing out there, and then, just like a snow machine, there was ice forming at that port on the SCU,” Dyson told Mission Control as per space.com
During Nasa’s live broadcast, astronaut Butch Wilmore said the scene was “a pretty impressive snowstorm.”
This incident follows another spacewalk postponement earlier this month. In the first attempt on June 13, involving a different astronaut team Matt Dominick and Tracy Dyson, the spacewalk was delayed due to a “spacesuit discomfort” issue experienced by Matt Dominick
Another spacewalk is scheduled for July 2, but it remains uncertain whether it will proceed given the current circumstances.
(With inputs from agencies)