Astronauts Begin 'Spacewalk Review' After Suit Coolant Leak

It’s a busy time aboard the International Space Station (ISS), which usually hosts a crew of seven astronauts. With the extended Starliner demo flight, the count is up to nine with Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. NASA was happy to have the help as it planned a pair of spacewalks on June 24 and July 2, but those are on hold while astronauts conduct a “spacewalk review” following coolant issues that scuttled the June 24 operation.
NASA Astronauts Tracy Caldwell Dyson (pictured above) and Mike Barratt were scheduled to spend at least six and a half hours outside the station. However, NASA canceled the remaining extravehicular activity (EVA) just 31 minutes after the pair exited the airlock. The cause was an unexplained coolant leak in Dyson’s suit. On June 25, NASA said it was working to investigate the issue.
The crew was slated to remove a faulty electrical box from the station’s exterior. However, Dyson’s suit sprung a leak in the service and cooling umbilical unit, which connects astronauts to the station. Dyson and Barratt swung into action immediately, switching to battery power and depressurizing the ISS Quest airlock hatch before reporting the issue. They returned safely to the station, and NASA stressed that the astronauts were not in danger at any point.
On NASA TV, the crew reported seeing a large volume of water in the airlock and a “snowstorm” of ice just outside the airlock. After returning to the station, Dyson and Barratt joined fellow astronauts Matthew Dominick and Jeanette Epps to discuss the spacesuit issues. NASA still has the July 2 spacewalk on the schedule, but it’s possible that will change. In the past, coolant issues with EVA components have led to a months-long hiatus on spacewalks.
NASA’s current Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) suits entered service in 1981, and they underwent a major update in the early 2000s. The agency is hoping to deploy new suits in the coming years, including one designed for use inside spacecraft and on the surface of the Moon for Artemis landings, and another designed for EVAs in low Earth orbit. Progress on both suits has been slow and could affect planning for future crewed missions.
The ISS crew is staying busy while NASA decides how to proceed with the EMU. After returning to the station on June 24, Dyson worked a water resupply tank in the Destiny module, and Barratt services lithium-ion batteries in the Quest airlock. Meanwhile, Willmore and Williams made the most of their extended stay on the ISS fixing plumbing inside the Harmony module. The EMU coolant leak should not cause any additional delay in the Starliner demo mission, which will return Willmore and Williams to Earth at some point this summer.
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