A spacewalk by two Russians on Wednesday was abruptly ended because of a problem with the battery in cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev’s suit, although he was never in danger, the US and Russian space agencies said.
“Oleg, you must return to the airlock as soon as possible,” Russian ground-based mission chiefs ordered, more than two hours after his trip outside the International Space Station (ISS).
“Drop everything and go back,” he was told several times, according to an English translation livestreamed by NASA.
The orders came shortly after Artemyev reported abnormal voltage readings on his spacesuit’s battery.
“Please don’t worry, everything is fine. You’re fine,” the inspectors said.
“Me? Worry? Absolutely not,” replied 51-year-old Artemyev, who took over as commander of the ISS from American astronaut Thomas Marshburn in May.
Artemyev returned to the airlock, where he successfully reconnected to the ISS’s main power supply.
He then waited for the second cosmonaut, Denis Matveyev, to gather all the supplies they had used for their mission, re-enter and pressurize the airlock.
The spacewalk was declared over after about four hours.
“The situation is under control… The cosmonaut’s health is not in danger,” Roscomos said afterwards.
“The crew is fine,” the Russian space agency added, noting that any unfinished work will be completed later.
Before the battery problem, the two cosmonauts installed two cameras outside the ISS.
“The duo was never in danger during the operations,” NASA said in a blog post.
Wednesday’s mission was Artemyev’s seventh spacewalk and Matveyev’s third.
#Russian #spacewalk #canceled #due #problem #suit
