NASA (US space agency) vetoed the walks made by astronauts outside the International Space Station (ISS), after leaking spacesuits. The incident happened after the astronauts performed an extravehicular activity (or EVA).
After 40 years using the same suit for this type of activity, NASA finally decided to review the materials of the clothes, which are already aged and only 18 units are in good condition on the ISS. The agency intends to bet on something new, but this is still under development.
The last case of leakage happened in March this year, during an extravehicular activity by astronauts Raja Chari, from NASA, and Matthias Maurer, from the European Space Agency (ESA). Maurer noticed moisture inside the visor as they were finishing their walk.
“The suit sometimes generates a little water, but that was a little beyond what our normal experience faces,” Dana Weigel, deputy program manager for the ISS at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, told a press conference.
After what happened, the control team received images taken by Maurer and reassured him, notifying him that his life was not in danger, since in 2013 the ESA went through something similar to the astronaut Luca Parmitano, but he almost drowned inside. of the suit, because due to gravity the water circulated freely inside the helmet, covering his mouth and nose.
Spacesuits can only be analyzed when they return to Earth and after thorough investigation with the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) clothes, which are worn outside the ISS.
NASA will then do the analysis and send them back for the next mission. Meanwhile, spacewalks are on hold.
