Risky spacewalk cut short
(China Daily)
Updated: 2004-02-27 23:08

Two astronauts from the International Space Station on a spacewalk once deemed too risky by NASA were brought up short by a malfunctioning spacesuit on Thursday and had to retreat to the orbiting station.

Midway through the planned six-hour excursion, the system used to control heat and humidity in Russian Alexander Kaleri's spacesuit failed, forcing him and NASA astronaut Michael Foale to return to their airlock with only half the work completed.

Astronaut Michael Foale of the United States (right) and fellow Expedition 8 crew member Alexander Kaleri (left) of Russia work outside the Zvezda service module on Thursday, leaving the station uninhabited for the first time since it was manned in November 2000. [Reuters]

The spacesuit had nothing to do with NASA's concerns that the spacewalk was a gamble. The main worry was that with only the two men living on the station, no one would be left inside to deal with an emergency.

On previous spacewalks, a third astronaut has remained behind in case of an emergency, but the grounding of US space shuttles has left the station with only two occupants.

Foale and Kaleri managed to retrieve some experiments outside the station and leave new ones behind. Among the new experiments was a European test dummy designed to study the long-term effects of space radiation on the human torso.

They did not have time to make early preparations for the arrival of a new European Space Agency cargo ship scheduled to go into service this year or next.

"Don't worry, the thermal conditions are fine," Kaleri assured Russian ground controllers as he made his way back to the airlock.

Earlier, ground controllers joked that his vital signs showed he was so relaxed "we could imagine you were in a sanatorium."

When they reported Foale's readings were equally good, Kaleri joked, "I think he was also taking a nap. "

NASA officials acknowledge they first balked when their Russian counterparts requested the spacewalk last summer, preferring to wait until space shuttles, grounded after last year's Columbia disaster, were once again cleared for flight.

Cultural differences have sometimes marred relations between the two senior partners in the 17-nation venture, but NASA Flight Director Sally Davis said that once both sides sat down to iron out problems, they set a new bar for co-operation.

The Russians, with their long experience running space stations, have made dozens of spacewalks while leaving their Mir and Salyut stations empty. But the Americans were unprepared and had to develop contingency plans for every conceivable emergency.

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