ISS Spacewalk Terminated Due to Spacesuit Problem – UPDATE 3

ISS Spacewalk Terminated Due to Spacesuit Problem – UPDATE 3

A spacewalk from the International Space Station (ISS) this morning was terminated early when European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Luca Parmitano’s spacesuit apparently developed a leak.

The astronauts have safely returned to the inside of the ISS.  ESA (@ESAoperations) tweeted that Parmitano and fellow spacewalker NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy have “doffed their suits.  Specialists will work to find cause of leak in @astro_luca’s suit.”   Other tweets indicate that there was water in his helmet, possibly from a leak in the water-cooled garment.

ESA released this photo of Parmitano after he returned to the space station.  He is being helped out of his spacesuit by NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg.

Photo Credit:  ESA/NASA

NASA released a video with excerpts of ground-space communications as the problem developed.  (Editor’s Note:  I watched this video not 10 minutes ago following link from ESA tweet, but now I get a “this video is private” message from YouTube.  Can’t imagine why.  Just looked like NASA TV footage.)

NASA reports on its ISS website that the spacewalk began at 7:57 am Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and ended at 9:39 am, a duration of 1 hour 42 minutes. 

Check back here for more information as it becomes available.

 

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