Tim Peake became the first astronaut representing Britain to walk in space when he left the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday to fix a power station problem, generating huge interest back in his homeland.
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A live feed on the Nasa website showed the moment Major Peake tentatively emerged from the ISS with the Union flag on the shoulder of his space suit. “So far, I’m OK”, Kopra who was making his third career spacewalk, reported. Nevertheless, the incident echoed a scary episode in 2013 when Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano almost drowned inside his spacesuit. Replacing the voltage regulator requires careful coordination – and Peak and Kopra will be working against the clock. The breakdown did not disrupt work 400km up, but NASA wanted the power grid fixed as soon as possible in case something else failed.
He carried the unit, which would weigh 200 pounds (90 kilograms) on Earth, to the far end of the space station’s truss, about 200 feet (60 meters) from the exit.
Update: At around 4am AEDT, under highly-conservative spacewalk safety rules, the decision was made to bring the crew back within the space station after a “water bubble” was found inside Tim Kopra’s helmet. “Wishing you a happy stroll outdoors in the universe”, British musician Sir Paul McCartney said on Twitter.
Following in the footsteps of Britain s Helen Sharman, who flew to the Russian Mir space station in 1991, Peake has drawn plenty of attention from his compatriots. “Now it’s explored space”. The inherent danger of a spacewalk, dictates that they are not done without a goal and prosperity and history do not count as a reason to go into space.
Major Peake added: “Thank you very much, I just want to reiterate Tim’s words there, you guys have done a great job, thanks for everybody’s support”.
Major Peake, a former Army Air Corps and helicopter test pilot, is the first Briton aboard the ISS and the first fully British professional astronaut employed by a space agency.
During their time on the walk, the astronauts were able to replace a faulty piece of equipment that helps regulate power from the solar panels at the International Space Station. With the primary task of their walk completed, NASA determined that it would be best for the astronauts to abort the remainder of their mission.
Engineers will scour data in the weeks ahead to figure out what happened with the suit and helmet.
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NASA stressed that the situation was not an emergency.
