NASA shelves routine spacewalks for now due to leaky helmet N | Astro Wonders

NASA shelves routine spacewalks for now due to leaky helmet

NASA is suspending all but the most urgent spacewalks after water was found in an astronaut's helmet following a March excursion.

NASA will perform an assessment of its extravehicular mobility unit (EMU) spacesuits after water was found in the helmet worn by European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Matthias Maurer following a March 23 spacewalk.

This means that astronauts will not go outside and perform extravehicular activities (EVAs) unless there is a pressing need for repairs on the International Space Station. Given that the affected EMU won't return to Earth for analysis until July, non-urgent spacewalks will be off the table for several months at the least.

This is the second time spacewalks have been suspended due to unexpected water leakage, although the last time in July 2013 was far more serious.

During that 2013 incident, ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano experienced a severe water leak that ended up covering most of his face. His spacewalk with NASA's Chris Cassidy was cut short due to the water volume Parmitano was reporting, roughly an hour after starting the work. Parmitano emerged safely from the incident and without injury, however.

The mishap report identified the immediate technical cause for the 2013 incident as "inorganic materials causing blockage of the drum holes" in an EMU water separator. This, in turn, caused water to spill into a vent loop.

NASA ultimately determined that the materials intruded "because a water filtering facility at Johnson had not been managed to control for silica," NASA's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) wrote in April 2017. "As a result silica-laden water was used in the processing of flight hardware filters that later was used in four on-orbit spacesuits."

The agency addressed the silica situation and also created backups for astronauts in case of leaks. Starting in 2014, astronauts used a "helmet absorption pad" at the back of the helmet to absorb excess water. Additionally, a breathing tube was inserted in the helmet in case of water clinging to the face, as it tends to do in microgravity. The incident in Maurer's spacesuit seems to be the most serious water problem faced since NASA implemented the 2014 fixes.
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