Spacewalk by Russian cosmonauts ends early after spacesuit glitch

They were instructed to 'drop everything and go back right away' after a battery problem in one of the suits was detected

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  In this photo taken from video footage released by Roscosmos Space Agency, Roscosmos' cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev are seen during their spacewalk on the International Space Station (ISS), Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. Roscosmos' cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev make a spacewalk at the space station to continue installation work of the European Space Agency's robot arm on the new Russian lab. (Roscosmos Space Agency via AP)

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  Roscosmos cosmonauts, from left; Oleg Artemyev, Sergey Korsakov and Denis Matveev, inside the International Space Station's Poisk module in April 2021. Photo: Nasa

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  There was a battery problem in the cosmonaut's spacesuit, and they were instructed to return to the airlock immediately. AFP

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  They completed the installation of two cameras on the European robotic arm before commander Artemyev’s spacesuit started showing abnormal battery readings. AP

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  They returned to the space station safely. AP

A spacewalk by Russian cosmonauts outside the International Space Station was cut short on Wednesday because of a suit glitch.

Cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev were working on the European Robot Arm and the Nauka module when commander Artemyev’s suit experienced a battery problem.

Both made it safely back into the space station when the seven-hour spacewalk cut short after just two hours.

“Expedition 67 Commander Oleg Artemyev and Flight Engineer Denis Matveev, both of Roscosmos, were instructed by Russian flight controllers to end the Aug. 17 spacewalk at the International Space Station due to a battery power issue on Artemyev’s Orlan spacesuit,” Nasa said.

They had completed the installation of two cameras on the European robotic arm.

But then commander Artemyev’s spacesuit started showing abnormal battery readings.

Mission control in Moscow instructed the cosmonauts to return to the Poisk airlock to connect to the space station’s power supply.

“Cosmonaut Sergey Korsakov, inside the station, is placing the European robotic arm in a safe configuration, and Matveev has just returned to the Poisk airlock. The duo was never in any danger during the operations,” Nasa said.

Russian flight controllers could be heard during a live-stream of the spacewalk, instructing the cosmonauts to “drop everything and go back right away”.

Astronauts routinely carry out spacewalks to do maintenance tasks on the exterior of the floating laboratory.

This was commander Artemyev’s seventh spacewalk and Mr Matveev’s third.

Russian cosmonauts wear Orlan suits. These spacesuits allow astronauts to breathe in the vacuum of space while protecting them from a harsh environment of temperature extremes and the risk of radiation damage.

Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics, said on Twitter that the incident on Wednesday was not a safe situation.

“Nasa PAO [public affairs officer] doing the usual trying to minimise things: ‘Artemyev is in no danger whatsoever'. Of course that is never true during a spacewalk,” he said.

“And in particular, if you are working outside in vacuum in a malfunctioning spacesuit, anyone who says you're in no danger — to quote John Young — 'don't understand the problem'.

“To be clear, I don't expect there to be any problem getting him inside, but that doesn't mean it's a safe situation.”

Spacewalks usually finish without a hitch, but there have been other instances where astronauts were in danger.

In 2013, water leaked into the helmet of Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano during a spacewalk.

His eyes, nose and ears and part of his mouth were filled with water, but he managed to return to the airlock in time.

Once he was safely inside, he and his colleagues discovered that 1.5 litres of water had filled the helmet.

The spacewalk, which was meant to be 6.5 hours long, was cut short after only about 45 minutes.

Last June, a spacewalk by French astronaut Thomas Pesquet and Nasa astronaut Shane Kimbrough was cut short because there were issues with their spacesuits.

About three hours into the spacewalk, Mr Kimbrough lost data on his spacesuit’s display unit, and then there was a sharp increase in the pressure reading on his spacesuit.

They were supposed to install a new set of solar arrays on the station but the trip was cut short after a nearly seven-hour spacewalk.

Ageing spacesuits are a problem for astronauts during spacewalks — in pictures

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  Sultan Al Neyadi wears his EVA suit for spacewalk training in the indoor pool. He will perform the first spacewalk by an Arab astronaut on April 28, 2023. Photo: MBRSC

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  Dr Al Neyadi will repair communication hardware with Nasa colleague Stephen Bowen during their spacewalk. Photo: MBRSC

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  Dr Al Neyadi has received extensive training for the spacewalk. Photo: Sultan Al Neyadi Twitter

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  The Extravehicular Activity suit is worn during spacewalks outside of the International Space Station and for training at the world's largest indoor pool at the Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas. MBRSC

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  In this photo taken from video footage released by Roscosmos Space Agency, Roscosmos' cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev are seen during their spacewalk on the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday, April 18, 2022. Roscosmos Space Agency via AP

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  Spacewalks outside of the International Space Station are generally a daunting task, but imagine doing them while wearing bulky spacesuits that weigh 127 kilograms. Astronauts regularly venture outside of the football field-sized orbiting laboratory to do maintenance work on the structure, such as fixing solar panels and repairing the hardware. Nasa via AP

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  Astronaut and Expedition 65 Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei inspects a spacesuit in preparation for a spacewalk at the International Space Station on April 17, 2021. AP

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  In this photo provided by Nasa, astronaut Mark Vande Hei performs a spacewalk to lubricate the Canadarm2 on October 10, 2017. AP

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  In a still image from a video, astronauts conduct a spacewalk to replace a faulty antenna on the International Space Station on December 2, 2021. Reuters