Aborted a spacewalk by a water leak in the diving ... - The Mundo.es

A walk outside the International Space Station (ISS) has abruptly suspended by a water leak in the diving Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano, as reported by Vladimir Solovyov, head of the segment Russian orbital platform.

“The decision to suspend output because the European astronaut Luca appeared Parmitano water in the diving ” Solovyov told the Interfax news agency.

leak occurred during the trip abroad since Parmitano Space Station and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, who last week staged and extravehicular activity.

“My head is very wet and I have the feeling that the problem is getting worse,” he warned Parmitano to mission controllers in Houston.

“Lots of water. hull is saturated and is entering his eyes and mouth “. I do not want to make a mistake and make things worse, “he warned Cassidy meanwhile shortly before drivers make the decision to abort the mission.

Tasks

repair

leak occurred when performing Cassidy Parmitano and repair and maintenance tasks outside the orbital outpost. “After detecting this problem the U.S. took the decision on the urgent return of astronauts aboard the ISS, “said Anna Vedisheva spokesman Russian space agency Roscosmos.

For this reason, Italian and American, who left the station at 11:56 GMT (13.56 CET Spanish), met only 1 hour and 32 minutes of extravehicular activity and unable to complete its work.

Once past the shock and re-entered the astronauts on the Space Station, Cassidy said his companion “looks miserable, but is well” .

“Parmitano and Cassidy are fine. Just over an hour after departure, Parmitano reported water ingress from the back of his helmet “, NASA said in a statement.

Cause unknown

For now, NASA specialists could not pinpoint the source of the problem , as the diving includes various fluid systems that need to function. Technicians are considering the possibility that the liquid proceed drinking water bottle to drink the astronauts during walks.

“Luca told us in the previous walk had fluid in the diving , but only slightly,” said a spokesman at NASA’s Mission Control Center Russian Space.

According to the testimony of Italian, spent 33 minutes between fluid was detected in his spacesuit and the time your peers on the ISS took off the helmet.

“NASA engineers believe that if the problem is only with the water, the next walk could take place next week . But it is still early to talk about it,” added the representative NASA in Russia.

youngest tenant ISS

The six occupants of the International Space Station right now trying to solve the problem on their own, according to NASA. The spokesman for the European Space Agency (ESA), Rene Pichel said that the two astronauts will not outside the platform to clarify the reasons for the escape of water .

Pichel explained that the ISS should have several spare space suits for spacewalks, although he added that now, “before dressing (the astronaut), must understand the causes of what happened,” .

ESA official said this is the first time in history that a spacewalk is suspended by the liquid inlet in one of the suits.

Parmitano, who came to the orbital outpost to late May aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, conducted last week its first extravehicular activity with Cassidy. At 36 years, the ESA astronaut the youngest person to be part of a long-term expedition to the ISS .

At present, besides the two mentioned, working on the ISS Russian cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradov, Alexander Misurkin and Fyodor Yurchijin addition to Karen Nyberg States.

retirement of U.S. shuttles two years ago, the Russian Soyuz spacecraft are the only means of transporting astronauts between Earth and the ISS.