{"id":10617,"date":"2022-03-23T21:45:53","date_gmt":"2022-03-23T13:45:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/astronauts-complete-spacewalk-for-space-station-maintenance-and-upgrades\/"},"modified":"2022-03-23T21:45:53","modified_gmt":"2022-03-23T13:45:53","slug":"astronauts-complete-spacewalk-for-space-station-maintenance-and-upgrades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/astronauts-complete-spacewalk-for-space-station-maintenance-and-upgrades\/","title":{"rendered":"Astronauts complete spacewalk for space station maintenance and upgrades"},"content":{"rendered":"

EDITOR\u2019S NOTE: <\/strong>Updated at 5:30 p.m. EDT (2130 GMT) after end of spacewalk.<\/p>\n

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION<\/p>\n

\"\"
German astronaut Matthias Maurer outside the International Space Station on a spacewalk Wednesday. Credit: NASA TV \/ Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two astronauts floated outside the International Space Station Wednesday and installed refurbished ammonia jumpers in the lab\u2019s cooling system to bring it back up to full efficiency, replaced a high-definition camera and made power and data connections on a European experiment platform.<\/p>\n

When the six-hour 54-minute excursion ended, astronaut Kayla Barron, helping German astronaut Matthias Maurer out of his spacesuit, reported water inside his helmet, bringing to mind a life-threatening malfunction during a 2013 spacewalk that flooded Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano\u2019s helmet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to report Matthias had some water in his helmet,\u201d Barron radioed mission control. \u201cIt\u2019s a little bit difficult to judge the volume because it\u2019s spread across the front of his visor, but I think we should accelerate the steps to get him out of his suit here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once the helmet was off, the crew estimated up to 50 percent of the visor was coated with a thin film of water and that an absorption pad added to NASA helmets in the wake of the Parmitano incident was damp.<\/p>\n

NASA mission control commentator Chelsey Ballarte said Maurer was never in any danger. While he did not report any concerns during the spacewalk, any excess water in a space helmet is a cause of concern and Ballarte said \u201cthe crew is going to continue to take documentation of the water for analysis by the ground team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Floating in the Quest airlock, Maurer and NASA astronaut Raja Chari switched their spacesuits to battery power at 8:32 a.m. EDT to officially kick off the 248th spacewalk in ISS history, the third so far this year, the second for Chari and the first for Maurer.<\/p>\n

The crew lost about an hour shortly after floating out of the airlock when Maurer\u2019s helmet camera assembly came loose. Chari ended up securing it with wire ties, but the lost time forced them to forego lower-priority tasks that had been planned toward the end of the excursion.<\/p>\n

Anchored to the end of the space station\u2019s robot arm, Chari installed the ammonia jumpers and worked with Maurer to attach and connect the TV camera. Work to attach two handling fixtures to an external radiator assembly was deferred to a future EVA.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re excited that Raja is having a chance to fly the smooth and friendly skies of Kayla and Tom,\u201d radioed astronaut Stephanie Wilson from mission control, referring to robot arm operators Thomas Marshburn and Barron.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely,\u201d Chari replied as the arm slowly moved him to the coolant system work site. \u201cWay better than business class.\u201d<\/p>\n