Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Space Travel News .




STATION NEWS
NASA rigs up snorkel in spacesuit after risky water leak
by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) Dec 18, 2013


disclaimer: image is for illustration purposes only

Snorkels in space? NASA dreamed up the idea as a quick fix to a dangerous spacesuit problem so astronauts can step out to repair an equipment breakdown at the International Space Station.

One of the two US astronauts preparing to embark on a series of spacewalks later this week and next will be wearing an American-made suit that had a helmet leak in July, nearly drowning the European astronaut who wore it.

The three emergency spacewalks are planned for December 21, 23 and 25 in order to fix a broken cooling system at the orbiting outpost.

An investigation into the cause of the leak that flooded Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano's helmet and forced him to rush back inside the station in July is still ongoing, NASA officials told reporters Wednesday.

Therefore, faced with an unexpected valve failure last week in the system that regulates the temperature of equipment aboard the 15-year-old orbiting outpost, NASA engineers had to scramble to figure out a way to make the US spacesuits safe for use.

First off, they have replaced the water pump system in the suit Parmitano wore.

In addition, an extra helmet absorption pad has been installed at the inside back of the helmet to soak up any potential leak, and a snorkel has been rigged up to offer another breathing route if needed.

"Some smart engineers on the ground were able to figure out, 'Hey this is a similar diameter to a snorkel that you have for scuba diving,'" said NASA lead spacewalk officer Allison Bolinger.

"By just sacrificing one of our spares on board they were able to come up with a way to just snip off the ends and then file it so it is not rough in the crew member's mouth and then apply Velcro."

American astronaut Mike Hopkins will be wearing the suit Parmitano wore. Both he and fellow US astronaut Rick Mastracchio will have the new snorkels and pads inside their spacesuits as a safety measure.

Their task is to remove the pump module with the faulty valve and replace it with a spare pump that was already aboard the ISS.

Even though the formal investigation into the leaking helmet has not been completed, NASA officials said they were confident that their back-up solutions would allow the astronauts to be safe on their risky outings.

"We had this failure where we flooded the suit," said Mike Suffredini, manager of the International Space Station program, adding that the breakdown took NASA by surprise.

Engineers had thought if such a failure happened, the suit would shut down and the astronaut would be alerted of a 30-minute deadline to get back inside the station, he said.

An extensive review has since been done of all the hazards involved with the suits, which are 35 years old, Suffredini told reporters.

"Based on what we have learned, I would expect that for as long as we have this particularly designed suit, we will keep this pad and snorkel available to the crew."

Dina Contella, International Space Station flight director said the suit Hopkins will be wearing has a brand new fan pump separator and all the water lines and other components have also been changed.

"We feel confident that this suit is a very clean suit and ready to go," she told reporters.

.


Related Links
Station at NASA
Station and More at Roscosmos
S.P. Korolev RSC Energia
Watch NASA TV via Space.TV
Space Station News at Space-Travel.Com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








STATION NEWS
NASA postpones cargo mission for space station repairs
Washington (AFP) Dec 18, 2013
NASA on Tuesday postponed a cargo mission to the International Space Station and instead scheduled three spacewalks so that astronauts can fix a broken cooling system at the research outpost. The decision means that Orbital Sciences' first regular supply-ship mission to the ISS will be put off until next year. Instead, a pair of US astronauts will embark on three spacewalks that culminat ... read more


STATION NEWS
Gaia secured inside fairing

India to decide December 27 on GSAT-14 launch date

Arianespace orders 18 rockets for 2 bn euros

Iran sends second monkey into space

STATION NEWS
Opportunity Communications Remain Slow Due To Odyssey Issues

New Views of Mars from Sediment Mineralogy

NASA poised to launch Mars atmosphere probe

The Tough Task of Finding Fossils While Wearing a Spacesuit

STATION NEWS
China's Lunar Lander May Provide Additional Science for NASA Spacecraft

China plans to launch Chang'e-5 in 2017

Mining the moon is pie in the sky for China: experts

Ancient crater could hold clues about moon's mantle

STATION NEWS
The Sounds of New Horizons

On the Path to Pluto, 5 AU and Closing

SwRI study finds that Pluto satellites' orbital ballet may hint of long-ago collisions

Archival Hubble Images Reveal Neptune's "Lost" Inner Moon

STATION NEWS
Gaia Mission Could Help Map Exoplanets

First detection of a predicted unseen exoplanet

Astronomers solve temperature mystery of planetary atmospheres

Nearby failed stars may harbor planet

STATION NEWS
SLS Chief Engineer Driven by 'Challenge' of Building America's Next Great Rocket

NASA Engineers Crush Fuel Tank to Build Better Rockets

JPL to Test New Supersonic Decelerator Technology

NASA Engineers Crush Giant Fuel Tank To Improve Rocket Design

STATION NEWS
Deep space monitoring station abroad imperative

Chinese sci-fi writers laud moon landing

China deploys 'Jade Rabbit' rover on moon

The Dragon Has Landed

STATION NEWS
What happens to ISON's remains?

Fire vs. Ice: The Science of ISON at Perihelion

Countdown Begins for NASA's OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Mission

Chinese flyby of asteroid shows space rock is "rubble"




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement