Spacesuit Leak: Why It Took NASA 23 Minutes To Send Astronaut To Safety

The 23-minute gap of your time between once Parmitano initial sent a report of water in his helmet, to once NASA told him to travel back to safety, exposed the spaceman “to associate degree accumulated level of risk”, the report aforesaid. whereas Parmitano emerged from the incident safely, in his last minutes within the pressure suit the water was covering his eyes, obtaining near his nose and mouth, and moving the communications instrumentation.

“There wasn’t a problem of something being hidden or stunned. it had been a scarcity of understanding regarding the severity of the event. it had been believed a drink bag caused the leak,” aforesaid Chris Hansen, the chair of the mishap investigation board, during a conference these days (Feb. 26).

 This misunderstanding, further Hansen (who additionally|is additionally} the chief engineer of the International space laboratory Program) also crystal rectifier to a retardant once a leak occurred within the same suit simply the week before.

Parmitano’s water leak occurred July sixteen once he and Chris Cassidy were getting ready a vicinity of the International space laboratory for a brand new Russian module. till these days, however, few knew regarding the existence of a second leak within the same pressure suit that happened on July nine, once Cassidy and Parmitano were doing another spacewalk along.

 Astronaut Chris Cassidy works with Luca Parmitano’s pressure suit, that had a water leak on July sixteen, 2013. Credit: NASA

After the conclusion of “EVA 22″ on July nine, as NASA referred to as the extra-vehicular activity, Parmitano took off his helmet and crew members discovered between zero.5 and one liters (0.13 to 0.26 gallons) of water within. Cassidy told the bottom that he couldn't see any water throughout the spacewalk or repressurization, leading NASA to conclude the water got into the helmet within the chamber.

“Also,” the report noted, “[Parmitano] was wanting down and leaning forward and certain had ironed on the drink bag together with his|along with his} chest and will have pinched the bite valve open with his chin, emotional water into his helmet. the bottom team accepted the crew’s drink bag leak assessment and therefore the presence of excessive water within the helmet wasn't investigated more … the bottom team schooled the crew to use a brand new drink bag for the approaching EVA twenty three, that they did.”

Hanson emphasised that the crew didn't build the ultimate decision, which the bottom team did raise some questions on what was happening, however the idea that a drink bag caused the water was conjointly a key feature of the July sixteen spacewalk once the leak began to indicate itself in earnest.

 ISS Astronauts had to scramble to urge Luca Parmitano out of his pressure suit when water leaked within the suit, covering his face. Via NASA TV.

 Also, NASA didn't well perceive the physics of however water worked inside the suit, assumptive there was no approach for liquid to create it past an acquaintance pump setup into the helmet unless the fan itself shut off. If that situation arose, NASA would have kicked into a 30-minute return-to-airlock procedure, which was within the back of controllers’ minds as they were operating through the fault tree throughout the July sixteen spacewalk, officers aforesaid within the telephony these days.

In the short term, the authors of the report have many  ”Level 1″ or priority recommendations that they must be enforced before traditional spacewalks resume. NASA aforesaid it’s progressing to run through these and “Level 2″ recommendations in time for June, with the aim of obtaining spacewalks going once more in July or August.

 NASA spaceman electro-acoustic transducer Hopkins holds a spare ammonia pump module throughout a spacewalk Dec. 24, 2013. Hopkins and fellow Expedition thirty eight Rick Mastracchio (top) performed 2 spacewalks to exchange a pump deuced for incapacitating one amongst the International house Station’s 2 cooling loops Dec. 11. Credit: NASA TV (screenshot)

 Emergency spacewalks will still proceed, because the agency has new safety measures in situ (including snorkels). This happened in Gregorian calendar month because the astronauts replaced a faulty ammonia pump.

 The agency has no pressing spacewalk tasks at now. The broken pump, sitting in temporary stowage outside the station, was ab initio safed to remain there till summer, however more analysis shows that it may sit there for many months a lot of.

You can scan the whole 222-page report here. We’ll pull out a lot of highlights tomorrow when we've got your time to appear over it in additional detail, too. the precise reason behind the leak continues to be below investigation.