Spacesuits that will be used by astronauts Barry Wilmore and Terry Virts in their businesses outside the International Space Station are in good working order, NASA said Wednesday, but engineers are concerned about a recurring theme with a piece of equipment known as the pump separator the fan control system of the temperature of the space suit.
"That's the same area of ​​concern we had back in 2013 when we had the problem of water in the hull," said Kenneth Todd, Operations of the International Space Station and manager Integration, in a briefing with reporters to outline plans for the trio of spacewalks to install new docking stations, commercial cargo in the orbiting laboratory.
NASA was alerted to the problem when the astronauts were doing maintenance spacesuit in December and found that the fan pump in a suit not accelerate as expected.
A new separator pump fan who was aboard the space station has been installed as a replacement, "and has been working smoothly from that point," Todd said.
However, when the commander of the NASA Wilmore scrubbed ties in another spacesuit United States on January 20 cooling, heard a "separator pump abnormally high pallets," according to the blog NASA activities Station space.
"We were doing the same type of activity and found the same type of failure," said Todd journalists.
"That made us think: what has changed What's going on?"
A new spacesuit was sent to the post and will be used by Wilmore during spacewalks.
The other spacesuit, with the replacement part will be used by Virts. Your separator vane pump has shown some signs of corrosion, but is working, Todd said.
"The two costumes that will come out to be operated whenever lit" he said.
Engineers believe that small amounts of water are accumulating in bearings inside the separator fan pump each time the suit is on and off, leading to corrosion over time.
Near drowning
The problem is related to the leak in the hull that almost Italian Luca Parmitano astronaut drowns during a spacewalk in July 2013 - he rushed back into the space station and recovered quickly - but is not expected to cause a jet similar water, Todd said.
"With water in the hull, it was a matter of root cause totally different. That was a problem with portholes is obstructed in the water separator, which was due to water chemistry," he said.
"That's not a problem here. What we are talking about is a pump failure to start. That in itself is not a water type event."
If the pump fails, the astronauts have to complete their spacewalk and return to the hatch.
"This is not a risk to the crew in terms of loss of life," Todd said.
A final decision on whether the spacewalks - known as extra-vehicular activities, or EVAs - can start Friday as scheduled, pending the outcome of other tests, and should be announced on Thursday.
"All indicators are - based on all data from soil tests and test the suits in orbit - is that going to work our way through this and these costumes will be fine, but we have some open . work to do, "Todd said.
The spacewalks are scheduled for Friday 20 February 24 February and March 1 of each starting at about 1210 GMT and lasts about six hours.
The astronauts are preparing cables and communications equipment for new docking ports to the space station.
The ports will be used by future crews of astronauts launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, once the first commercial capsules are ready to fly people from 2017.
Boeing and SpaceX are in the process of completing their crew vehicles, which will restore the ability of the US to send astronauts to low Earth orbit after the withdrawal of the space shuttle program in 2011. --AFP
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