Cosmonauts Sergei Prokopiev and Dmitry Petelin were supposed to leave the ISS on November 25 to transfer the radiator-heat exchanger from the Rassvet module to the new Nauka module of the Russian division of the ISS. However, about half an hour before the start of the spacewalk, Roskosmos announced that the work was stopped due to an emergency.
“While preparing the spacesuits for launch, it was discovered that the pumps in one of the spacesuits’ cooling system were operating abnormally. It was decided to stop the work at the exit. The press service of the state institution said the reasons are being analysed.
The space agency announced that the next date to leave the station will be determined once experts understand what happened to the spacesuit.
Sergei Pozdnyakov, general director of the Zvezda research and production enterprise (NPP), which then produces the spacesuit, told TASS that the company’s specialists will solve the operation of the cooling system pumps that interrupted the work in orbit.
“There are two pumps – the main and the standby – and there is an automatic machine that turns on the standby pump in case of abnormal operation of the main pump and vice versa. There is an instability in the operation of the pumps, we will solve it, ”explained Pozdnyakov.
According to the schedule, the extra-vehicle activity (EVA) was to begin at 14.20 Moscow time. For Petelin and Prokopiev, this would be the second spacewalk during the expedition. It was supposed to be posted online on the Roscosmos website.
The main task of the cosmonauts was to transfer the radiator-heat exchanger from the small research module Rassvet to the multi-purpose laboratory module (MLM) Nauka. This radiator is necessary to remove additional thermal loads from the MLM during scientific experiments.
The transfer of the unit itself was to be carried out using the European ERA manipulator, which would be remotely controlled from the station by cosmonaut Anna Kikina. He had to capture the radiator with a manipulator, and only after that Petelin and Prokopiev would go on a spacewalk. They had to disconnect the wires, unlock the radiator and check the transmission, and then connect the unit to the MLM workplace.
TASS reported that at noon Moscow time, Kikina completed her preparations to work with the manipulator.
The spacewalk was supposed to take a little over 6.5 hours. Petelin and Prokopiev would use the red and blue striped Orlan-MKS spacesuits.
The Orlan-MKS suits have been used by Russian cosmonauts since 2017 and are a modernized version of the Orlan series that was introduced at the Salyut-6 station in the late 1970s. From 165 to 190 cm tall, astronauts can get out of the ship, weight 110 kg, autonomy 7 hours. The suit was designed for 20 spacewalks and five years of operation, thanks to its polyurethane shell.
The November 25 incident is not the first time this year that a Russian cosmonaut’s spacesuit has malfunctioned. In August 2022, cosmonaut Oleg Artemiev had to interrupt his extravehicular activities and return to the ISS due to a voltage drop in his spacesuit’s battery. Artemyev risked being out of touch, so he returned to the police station. His partner Denis Matveev continued to work in the open field.
Last year, the general director of Zvezda, Pozdnyakov, warned that the warranty period of Orlan-MKS is running out and contracts for the production of new ones have not yet been concluded. He noted that Russia has not produced new spacesuits for a long time, many suppliers of materials for them no longer exist, and the development of new components will require costs.
“The current approval and approval system does not allow us to respond quickly and launch new products. Everything is stuck in a bureaucratic swamp, ”said Pozdnyakov in 2021. Dmitry Rogozin, then head of Roskosmos, in response urged employees of the Zvezda Research and Production Company to “work faster on new spacesuits.” And he acknowledged that the government agency could create an alternative manufacturer.
Source: Gazeta
Barbara Dickson is a seasoned writer for “Social Bites”. She keeps readers informed on the latest news and trends, providing in-depth coverage and analysis on a variety of topics.