ISS suit leak traced to faulty switch
Posted: Sat, Jun 26, 2004, 1:24 PM ET (1724 GMT)
A loss of pressure in a spacesuit that led controllers to scrub a spacewalk outside the International Space Station just minutes after it began Thursday has been traced to a faulty switch, officials said Friday. ISS managers were forced to abort the spacewalk just after it started Thursday evening because the pressure in the main oxygen tank of the suit worn by Michael Fincke was dropping rapidly. A check of the suit revealed that while a switch on the suit indicated that oxygen flow from the tanks was at normal levels, oxygen was in fact flowing at much higher levels, hence the rapid drop in pressure. Procedures are being put into place to make sure that the switch is in the proper position, and no repairs to the suit should be required. Station managers have tentatively rescheduled the EVA for Tuesday evening; a final decision on the revised spacewalk date is expected Monday.
A loss of pressure in a spacesuit that led controllers to scrub a spacewalk outside the International Space Station just minutes after it began Thursday has been traced to a faulty switch, officials said Friday. ISS managers were forced to abort the spacewalk just after it started Thursday evening because the pressure in the main oxygen tank of the suit worn by Michael Fincke was dropping rapidly. A check of the suit revealed that while a switch on the suit indicated that oxygen flow from the tanks was at normal levels, oxygen was in fact flowing at much higher levels, hence the rapid drop in pressure. Procedures are being put into place to make sure that the switch is in the proper position, and no repairs to the suit should be required. Station managers have tentatively rescheduled the EVA for Tuesday evening; a final decision on the revised spacewalk date is expected Monday.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Space Force selects companies to develop space-based interceptor prototypes
Posted: Sun, Nov 30 8:40 AM ET (1340 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Monday, December 1
Spaceport Cornwall shortlisted as testing location
BBC — 5:57 am ET (1057 GMT) 'We’d love to be in India': Elon Musk makes the case for Starlink’s rural connectivity mission
Business Today — 5:57 am ET (1057 GMT) Russia’s War Drones Still Using Starlink Despite Pentagon Crackdown
United24 Media — 5:56 am ET (1056 GMT) On Space Command: Springs focuses on the mission, not politics
Colorado Springs Gazette — 5:54 am ET (1054 GMT) China's first space documentary screened in Bulgaria
Xinhua — 5:52 am ET (1052 GMT) |
