Next spacewalk set for Dec. 24

From NASA Reports
Next spacewalk set for Dec. 24
Spacewalk-NASA image.

     Second spacewalk delayed after discovery of problems with suit.

      After a successful spacewalk Dec. 21 by NASA astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins, problems were discovered with Mastracchio's spacesuit.
     A second spacewalk to install a new pump unit on the International Space Station --originally set for Dec. 23 -- now is scheduled for Dec. 24. The extra day will allow time for the crew to resize a spare spacesuit on the space station for use by Mastracchio.
      During repressurization of the station’s airlock following the spacewalk, an issue put the suit Mastracchio was wearing in question for the next excursion -- specifically whether water entered into the suit’s sublimator (the space suit's cooling unit) inside the airlock. The flight control team at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston decided to switch to a backup suit for the next spacewalk.
     This issue is not related to the spacesuit water leak that was seen during a July spacewalk by European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano and NASA’s Chris Cassidy. Both Mastracchio and Hopkins reported dry conditions repeatedly throughout Saturday’s activities and the two were never in danger.
     NASA Television coverage of Tuesday’s spacewalk will begin at 6:15 a.m. EST. The spacewalk scheduled to begin at 7:10 a.m.

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