NASA calls off spacewalk after spacesuit water leak
In this photo provided by NASA, astronaut Jeanette Epps (center) is pictured assisting NASA astronauts Mike Barratt (left) and Tracy Dyson (right) inside the Quest airlock. (NASA TV via AP)
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NASA on Monday canceled a spacewalk at the International Space Station after water leaked from an astronaut’s spacesuit.
Astronauts Tracy Dyson and Mike Barratt opened the hatch to the space station’s airlock when Dyson reported water leaking from her spacesuit’s cooling system. The leak occurred when Dyson switched her spacesuit to battery power. The astronauts hadn’t floated outside yet.
“There’s literally water everywhere here now,” Barratt said.
The duo were not in danger, according to NASA.
The astronauts were supposed to remove a faulty communications box and collect microbe samples from outside the orbiting laboratory. The spacewalk was planned for nearly seven hours, but lasted only a half hour.
Earlier this month, a spacewalk was postponed after another astronaut experienced “spacesuit discomfort.”
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