Water in Ageing Spacesuit Caused Problems for Astronaut (BLOG)

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVJotR-cXOuAf21mD6-QN4nX6C654LKAl7XMgUIEUffaOkN6juVKTO3W42Nz3fs5Oaz39aJTlbaaajxh110IGr0SVYZkvfsjziCv5qJoN_dB22YBbXTUxZEdwlcRmK-RYAH3rpLsRyAYc/s1600/ap_international_space_station_wy_131220_16x9_992.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVJotR-cXOuAf21mD6-QN4nX6C654LKAl7XMgUIEUffaOkN6juVKTO3W42Nz3fs5Oaz39aJTlbaaajxh110IGr0SVYZkvfsjziCv5qJoN_dB22YBbXTUxZEdwlcRmK-RYAH3rpLsRyAYc/s320/ap_international_space_station_wy_131220_16x9_992.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1387828343548_13513" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">NASA's Mission Control has revealed the problem that prompted the early end of the latest spacewalk: Water in one of the astronaut's 35-year-old spacesuits.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1387828343548_13519" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">The spacewalk ended short of its anticipated six-and-a-half-hour time frame when Mastracchio, the lead spacewalker, began complaining about chilly temperatures in his space suit.Expedition 38 Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio and fellow astronaut Michael Hopkins ran into trouble while they were conducting an urgent repair outside the <a data-rapid_p="13" href="http://abcnews.go.com/topics/news/space-station.htm" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">International Space Station</a> during a spacewalk that lasted five hours and 28 minutes.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1387828343548_13530" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">The seven-time spacewalker said his feet were cold during at least part of the nearly five-and-a-half-hour walk and at times had to re-adjust temperature controls in his suit.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1387828343548_13536" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Even before the emergency repair mission began,<a data-rapid_p="14" href="http://abcnews.go.com/topics/news/nasa.htm" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">NASA</a> acknowledged it was working with aging spacesuits, which were designed in the same era of the space shuttle.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1387828343548_13542" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"Because the suits are 35 years old we review the hazards every so often as a matter of course," NASA's ISS Program Manager, Mike Suffredini told ABC News Radio.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1387828343548_13548" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">The astronauts began working at 7:01 a.m. ET on Saturday to replace a degraded ammonia pump module associated with one of the station's two cooling loops that keep internal and external equipment cool, NASA said.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1387828343548_13554" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">The engineers raced to successfully remove, ahead of schedule, the cooling pump that has jeopardized operations aboard the ISS since it broke on Dec. 11.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">The 780-pound pump is about the size of a double-door refrigerator and difficult to handle, with plumbing full of toxic ammonia, <a data-rapid_p="15" href="http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/nasa-astronauts-begin-urgent-spacewalking-repairs-21297124" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">The Associated Press reported</a>. Flight controllers tried but failed to fix the bad valve through remote commanding.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">During the repairs, the astronauts communicated with Mission Control Houston about the procedure. NASA's website offered the public a live video feed showing the astronauts and Mission Control.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">At one point, when Mission Control asked Mastracchio to extend the spacewalk, he balked.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"My vote would be to call it for today, but it's up to you guys if you really want to go out there," Mastracchio said.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">The work of the two astronauts Saturday was part of a planned series of spacewalks to replace the ammonia pump module.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">While the astronauts successfully removed the pump on Saturday, plans to replace it two days later have been delayed. The pair will now spend Christmas Eve trying to finish the work, after NASA cancelled Monday's spacewalk to investigate what caused the latest malfunction.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">NASA says a third spacewalk would occur on Christmas Day if necessary to finalize the installation of the replacement pump module. It would be the first Christmas spacewalk for NASA.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1387828343548_13558" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Mastracchio has conducted six previous spacewalks, and holds the record for the 14th longest total number of spacewalking hours. He wore extra safety gear to prevent a recurrence of helmet flooding that nearly drowned an Italian astronaut last summer. This was Hopkins' first spacewalk.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1387828343548_13564" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">The two astronauts received guidance on the spacewalk procedures from NASA astronauts Doug Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell-Dyson, who replaced the pump at the same location during three spacewalks in August 2010, NASA said.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;"><em>ABC News' SUSANNA KIM, ABC News Radio and the AP Contributed to this report.</em></div></div>

Water in Ageing Spacesuit Caused Problems for Astronaut (BLOG)

NASA's Mission Control has revealed the problem that prompted the early end of the latest spacewalk: Water in one of the astronaut's...

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