15.06.2024

The call was made about an hour before the two astronauts were scheduled to exit the airlock.

NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson (center) checks the spacesuits of NASA crewmates Michael Barratt (right) and Matthew Dominick during spacewalk preparations on the International Space Station on June 5, 2024.

The spacewalk scheduled for two NASA astronauts today (June 13) has been postponed.

International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 71 crew members Tracy Dyson and Matt Dominick will not be performing an extravehicular activity (EVA) that had been scheduled to begin Thursday (June 13) morning. The pair had already begun donning their spacesuits when NASA announced the EVA's postponement, according to a space agency blog post this morning.

The call came at about 6:25 a.m. CDT (1025 GMT), approximately one hour before Dyson and Dominick were supposed to be egressing the ISS from the Quest airlock.

NASA had already begun the livestream of today's EVA procedures when the announcement was made. "Spacewalkers Tracy Dyson and Matt Dominick were preparing for US EVA 90 — spacewalk 90 — today, but today's spacewalk will not be proceeding as planned," a NASA commentator said on the stream just after the postponement decision was made, adding, "we're standing by for more information, and we will share as we learn that."

Shortly after, a NASA update indicated the call was made due to a "spacesuit discomfort issue," but did not indicate which astronaut had experienced the problem.

One of the crew members assisting Dyson and Dominick was NASA astronaut Suni Williams, seen in NASA's livestream. Williams recently arrived at the space station aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft as a part of the capsule's Crew Flight Test (CFT). Suni and her CFT crewmate NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore docked with the station a day after their June 5 rocket launch and were scheduled to depart about a week later. However, their return to Earth was pushed to June 18, citing preparations for today's EVA as part of the reason. It is not clear whether the changes to this morning's EVA will affect Wilmore and Williams' departure from the space station.

The spacewalk cancellation comes after audio from an ISS emergency medical drill caused a media stir when it accidentally aired live on NASA livestreams on Wednesday evening. There was no emergency situation on the ISS, NASA said.

Quelle: SC