Several ammonia leaks and minor system failures with the space stations cooling have occurred over the past five years.
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NASA Astronauts Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren are outside the worldwide Space Station for the second spacewalk in nine days for the Expedition 45.
Minutes after the ammonia leak, Kelly, NASA’s yearlong spaceman, reported that the forefinger of his right glove had a stitch poking out. In previous instances where ammonia was leaking from the space station’s coolant system, astronauts were instructed to wait outside of the station until the traces of ammonia were sublimated away by the Sunday. At this time, they made repairs to fix an issue which ISS residents were dealing with for 3 years now.
Over the course of their work, the astronauts remained outside in sunlight long enough for any stray ammonia to evaporate, so they did not need any tests in the airlock or to stay outside longer for an extra “bake-out”.
The backup radiator initially was folded up against the side of the station’s power truss but it later was re-extended when the spacewalkers ran out of time to cinch it down.
Kelly is more than halfway through a year-long mission at the space station that aims to help Nasa study the effects of long-term spaceflight on the body and mind.
When the space agency first started choosing people for their projects, applicants were required to have degrees in engineering and should know how to fly a jet aircraft. There are 47 astronauts in the active astronaut corps, and more will be needed to crew future missions to the space station and destinations in deep space.
To date, the total spacewalk time aboard the ISS is 1,192 hours and 4 minutes that was taken from over 190 excursions since the orbital lab began operations in 1998.
Lindgren reported intermittent flakes of escaping toxic ammonia early in the spacewalk, while making connections in a cooling line. While the 20-minute process was underway, Kelly stood by, ready to manually shut the valve down in the event of any leakage. This excess ammonia was stored in a back on the outside of the ISS.
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NASA supported the report’s findings, according to the Associated Press.
