Astronauts are conducting a “spacewalk assessment” in orbit after a coolant leak canceled a planned excursion on Monday (June 24), NASA officials said in an update.
NASA astronauts Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Mike Barratt stopped the spacewalk while still in the hatch of the International Space Station (ISS), due to a leak in Dyson’s space suit. Today (June 25), NASA said the crew is consulting with Mission Control to determine what to do next. “Barratt began troubleshooting Dyson’s space suit and inspecting the suit’s components Tuesday morning,” NASA officials wrote in a brief update that mentioned a “spacewalk review” in the title. “Subsequently, [Barratt] joined Dyson for ongoing procedural reviews with fellow astronauts Matthew Dominick and Jeanette Epps for future spacewalks.”
For now, NASA’s next spacewalk is still scheduled for July 2, after Monday’s aborted 31-minute excursion that was supposed to last 6.5 hours. What happens next will be determined by the investigation, which is still ongoing. After coolant leaks into space in the past, spacewalks have sometimes been suspended for months.
The ISS crew reported “literally water everywhere” in the hatch and a “blizzard” of ice flakes visible just outside, but everyone resolved the situation within moments. The astronauts were never in danger, NASA officials repeatedly emphasized during the live broadcast on NASA Television.
Investigating the cause could take some time. Yesterday’s broadcast showed astronauts taking pictures of the two spacesuits, including the maintenance and cooling umbilical (SCU) area on Dyson’s suit, where the water appeared to be entering. The SCU is designed to connect to the ISS airlock as astronauts in the hatch prepare for the final phase of undocking for EVA.
Coolant leaks have occurred several times in recent years. For example, in March 2022, NASA took a seven-month pause on spacewalks after water was found in a spacesuit helmet.
A more serious incident occurred in 2013 when Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano’s helmet filled with water during an extravehicular activity (EVA), necessitating a quick return to the hatch. A subsequent NASA research report suggested several solutions to prevent this from happening again, which agency officials began implementing during future spacewalks.
The Boeing Starliner spacecraft was expected to leave the ISS sometime after July 2 and complete its first mission with astronauts launched on June 5, in part because of the spacewalk scheduled for that day. However, Starliner remains docked pending assessment and testing of its thrust systems and helium supply after problems were discovered on June 6 that delayed its arrival at the ISS. NASA Starliner astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams took part in those tests and are now performing other maintenance work on the ISS, according to Tuesday’s NASA update.
Starliner’s roughly 10-day mission to the ISS has now lasted nearly three weeks and continues to grow, although both Boeing and NASA emphasize that the nature of development missions is that they often fall outside of planned schedules due to the unexpected. Part of the reason for expanding the mission is to observe the behavior of the service module as that part (with the most fuel and power) becomes detached during landing.
According to previous comments from NASA’s commercial crew manager Steve Stich, the spacecraft is technically capable of staying on station for 45 days. NASA has promised a full update on Starliner in the near future. That said, the Starliner crew can still exit orbit around it if necessary; NASA emphasizes that the spacecraft will be able to depart quickly if an emergency occurs on the ISS that requires evacuation.