“Space walk” lasted more than two hours.
“Space walk” of Russian cosmonauts, which on Wednesday, August 17, did not take place according to plan. The space suit of one of them failed and forced the astronaut to return inside the International Space Station, reports Gizmodo.
Read also: Russia will leave the ISS only after launching its own station – NASA
Oleg Artemyev reported the problems two hours after going into outer space to install a robotic arm. According to him, the power supply to his spacesuit was dropping. The flight control center ordered the astronaut to return to the airlock and connect to the ISS power grid. At the same time, the Central Committee assured Artemyev that everything is fine with him. While the cosmonaut was dealing with the crew bag before entering the airlock, the TsUP persistently instructed him to “drop everything and come back”.
Artemyev returned to the ISS, leaving his colleague Denys Matveev outside. Later, the Central Committee of Ukraine announced that the “space walk” would have to be completed ahead of schedule. If the power supply voltage to Artemyev's spacesuit continued to drop, he would lose contact with the TSU and Matveev, the fan of the spacesuit would stop circulating air, which would make it difficult for the cosmonaut to breathe.
The TSU said that Artyemiev was fine was not threatened, but Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics disagrees.
“If you're operating outside in a vacuum in a malfunctioning spacesuit, anyone who says you're not in danger is missing the point. If the electricity is cut off, the suit will quickly heat up to an uncomfortable temperature,” he said.
The cosmonauts' “space walk” was supposed to last about six and a half hours. Artemyev and Matveev successfully installed cameras on the European manipulator outside the ISS and removed the launch restraints from the so-called “arms” of the mechanical manipulator when the voltage began to drop. The astronauts were also supposed to move the external control panel and test the mechanism designed to capture payloads as they arrive at the ISS, but that will likely be moved to another spacewalk.
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Remember, a new chapter Yuriy Borisov of Roscosmos told Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin that Russia will withdraw from the ISS project after 2024. Later it became known that these terms are not yet final and “the decision will be made depending on the technical condition of the station”, and the exit itself may take place by 2030.
