OUR NASA announced this Wednesday the suspension of all spacewalks on the International Space Station (ISS). The reason was another case of water leakage inside space suit used astronauts to perform spacewalks, an abbreviation for extravehicular activity. The current suits are over 40 years old and only 18 of them are in working order on the shelf. ISS.

Leakage is dangerous in zero gravity

The last case responsible for the decision NASA suspend spacewalkstook place in March of this year. At that time the astronaut European Space Agency Matthias Maurer noticed the presence of water and moisture in the helmet after finishing a seven-hour spacewalk (his first) in which he and an astronaut from NASA Raja Chari laid cables in the radiator Season.

At last week’s meeting of the Aerospace Safety Council NASA decided to suspend spacewalks. Susan Helms, a former astronaut and board member, explained that the agency took into account the risk in which space suits accommodate astronauts and emphasize that this equipment is already aging.

View of the Earth through the International Space Station. Credits: Disclosure/NASA.

This is the third leak. The first was in 2013 with Luca Parmitano, also from ESA. At that time, the amount of water almost drowned the Parmitano. Due to the lack of gravity, water circulates freely inside the helmet. The astronaut almost drowned when water covered his nose, which could have led to drowning. The same suit was used by an astronaut in 2015 NASA Terry Virts. Wirth noticed drops of water and moisture on the helmet, but he did not suffer the same problem as his colleague from ESA.

OUR NASA already created a new space suits, but the lack of financial backing delayed the launch. Thus, the validity of the old suits was extended until 2028. Agency will have to speed up the introduction of a new suit.

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Source: Gizmodo