Two United States astronauts have shut down their plans to conduct maintenance on the International Space Station after suffering a spacesuit mishap.
NASA officials called off the operation after two astronauts’ spacesuits were leaking water into their cooling unit.
The leak occurred when astronaut Tracy Dyson was about to exit the space station.
In an update, astronaut Dyson shared, “Right now, I’m comfortable, but I do feel a little warm.”
Per NASA:
Today's spacewalk with @NASA_Astronauts Tracy C. Dyson and Mike Barratt has been cancelled due to a spacesuit cooling unit water leak. Watch @NASA TV coverage… https://t.co/XaM0jSDTKp pic.twitter.com/mW0QWeia2a
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) June 24, 2024
EVA-90 UPDATE – #ISS Spacewalk Aborted Due To "Spacesuit Cooling Unit Water Leak"
The leak "began right after the suits were put on internal battery power"
Watch Live: https://t.co/SwDVffK45V#NASA #Spacewalk #SpaceNews #SpacesuitLeak pic.twitter.com/uQrReJShgs
— The Launch Pad (@TLPN_Official) June 24, 2024
Per CNN:
Two US astronauts abandoned plans to exit the International Space Station to conduct maintenance on Monday due to a spacesuit malfunction.
NASA officials called off the spacewalk because of a water leak in the cooling unit of one of the astronauts’ spacesuits.
The leak, which affected the suit donned by NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, sprang up just after the suits were transferred to battery powerjust before they exited the space station.
The cooling unit on the spacesuits are designed to keep the wearers at a comfortable temperature while carrying out their work. Dyson and her crewmate Mike Barratt were set to remove a faulty electronics box from a communications antenna on the space station’s exterior.
“Right now, I’m comfortable, but I do feel a little warm,” Dyson was heard saying on a live stream of the event after the spacewalk was called off around 9 a.m. ET.
Today's spacewalk was cancelled due to a water leak in the service and cooling umbilical unit on NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson’s spacesuit. More… https://t.co/Ibs0zCkABB pic.twitter.com/Oj5vB09Omd
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) June 24, 2024
Per CBS News:
Floating in the International Space Station’s Quest airlock module, veteran spacewalkers Tracy Dyson and Mike Barratt were preparing to head outside Monday to finish a spacewalk that was called off June 13 when Dyson reported a significant water leak from her spacesuit’s cooling system, saying “there’s literally water everywhere.”
The leak was stopped when Dyson reconnected an umbilical that supplies station power, cooling water and oxygen. The airlock was repressurized, its inner hatch was opened and the astronauts moved into the airlock’s inner compartment where crewmates were standing by to help them out of their bulky spacesuits.
NASA said Dyson and Barratt were never in any danger.
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