NASA's ISS Spacesuit Situation Turns Grim

Two NASA astronauts were preparing to exit the International Space Station (ISS) for a 2nd effort astatine a spacewalk, but it was erstwhile again called disconnected owed to a concerning malfunction with the spacesuit.

NASA was forced to cancel a spacewalk connected Monday owed to a h2o leak successful the work and cooling umbilical portion connected astronaut Tracy Dyson’s spacesuit. “There’s h2o everywhere,” Dyson could beryllium heard saying during the unrecorded provender from the ISS, pointing to an alarming malfunction with the abstraction station’s aging suits that enactment different astronauts astatine hazard successful the past. NASA is successful hopeless request of caller spacesuits for its astronauts, but successful a troubling development, the institution contracted to plan the suits has conscionable pulled retired of the agreement.

The 2 astronauts, Dyson and Mike Barratt, hadn’t yet near the airlock erstwhile the contented arose. However, the airlock had to beryllium re-pressurized arsenic the brace were connected their mode retired to the vacuum of space. Thankfully, the astronauts were safe.

This was the 2nd spacewalk postponement wrong a week owed to an contented with the spacesuit; connected June 13, different spacewalk was called disconnected owed to “spacesuit discomfort issues,” according to NASA.

The astronauts connected committee the ISS are running process reviews of the spacesuit’s malfunction, troubleshooting it and inspecting the suit’s components. An upcoming spacewalk has been scheduled for July 2, pending the ongoing investigation.

It’s wide that NASA astronauts are successful request of immoderate caller suits; the spacesuits presently being utilized are much than 40 years old and overdue for a large upgrade. The abstraction bureau besides seems to beryllium moving retired of afloat functional abstraction suits connected committee the ISS, with lone 18 usable units presently disposable for usage by astronauts connected the abstraction station, according to a 2017 report.

In May 2022, NASA suspended spacewalks extracurricular the ISS pursuing a bid of perchance life-threatening incidents of h2o leaking into astronauts’ helmets during their spacewalks. NASA astronaut Raja Chari and European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer were installing hoses connected a radiator beam valve module extracurricular the abstraction presumption connected March 23, 2022 erstwhile Maurer—who was venturing retired connected his archetypal spacewalk—noticed immoderate h2o and dampness wrong his visor towards the extremity of the seven-hour spacewalk.

“NASA is reasoning done the hazard posture for these suits, which are aging, the [spacesuit] is presently no-go for planned EVAs pending an probe into what they discover,” Susan Helms, a erstwhile NASA astronaut who serves connected NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, said astatine the time. The abstraction bureau resumed ISS spacewalks soon afterwards pursuing an probe into the leaks.

This wasn’t the archetypal incidental involving excess water. Back successful 2013, ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano noticed a h2o leak wrong his helmet that forced an aboriginal wrap-up to the spacewalk. Parmitano was capable to re-enter the ISS airlock but was having trouble breathing arsenic 1.5 liters of h2o had formed wrong his helmet. “I consciousness it covering the sponge connected my earphones and I wonderment whether I’ll suffer audio contact. The h2o has besides astir wholly covered the beforehand of my visor, sticking to it and obscuring my vision,” Parmitano recounted successful a chilling blog post later.

The aforesaid suit worn by Parmitano astir drowned different astronaut 2 years later. NASA astronaut Terry Virts, donning spacesuit #3005, noticed free-floating droplets of water and a damp absorption pad successful his helmet astatine the decision of his spacewalk.

NASA is moving with its commercialized partners to make caller spacesuits for its astronauts connected the ISS, but it’s taking longer than anticipated. In June 2022, the abstraction bureau awarded contracts to Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace to physique spacesuits worthy a imaginable combined worth of $3.5 billion. The suits were meant to debut successful 2025, but Collins Aerospace is looking to driblet retired of the contract, SpaceNews reported connected Wednesday.

“After a thorough evaluation, Collins Aerospace and NASA mutually agreed to descope Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services (xEVAS) task orders,” the institution wrote successful a connection to SpaceNews. It’s not wide however NASA volition proceed from here.

In a report released successful January 2019, NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel reviewed the expanding challenges of the spacesuits. “It is an undeniable information that the 40-year-old EMUs utilized successful ISS operations are reaching the extremity of their utile life,” the study read. “NASA cannot support the necessary, ongoing low-Earth orbit operations without afloat functional EVA suits.”

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