spacetoday.net: Next ISS EVA to use Russian spacesuits

Posted: Tue, May 25, 2004, 8:38 AM ET (1238 GMT)
ISS illustration (NASA)

Continuing problems with American spacesuits on the International Space Station led mission managers to decide Monday to use Russian suits for a spacewalk next month, a decision that will increase the difficulty of the EVA. After several days of work ISS crewmembers Michael Fincke and Gennady Padakla were unable to fix the cooling system in Padalka's US-built spacesuit, a problem first noticed during an EVA rehearsal last week. As a result, Fincke and Padalka will use Russian spacesuits on the station, a decision that will require the two to stage the spacewalk from the Russian Pirs airlock module instead of the American Quest module. The EVA is required to fix a gyro used for attitude control of the station. NASA had wanted to use the Quest airlock because it is located far closer to the gyros than Pirs; Padalka and Fincke will have to spend extra time moving along the exterior of the station from Pirs to reach the gyros. The spacewalk is currently scheduled for no earlier than June 16.