spacetoday.net: ISS suit leak traced to faulty switch

Posted: Sat, Jun 26, 2004, 1:24 PM ET (1724 GMT)
ISS illustration (NASA)

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.