spacetoday.net: Water leak in spacesuit cuts short spacewalk

Posted: Wed, Jul 17, 2013, 6:45 AM ET (1045 GMT)
Astronauts after ISS EVA on 2013 July 16 (NASA)

A dangerous buildup of water in an Italian astronaut's spacesuit forced NASA to end a spacewalk outside the International Space Station just over an hour and a half after it started Tuesday morning. Christopher Cassidy and Luca Parmitano started the spacewalk, the second in as many weeks, at 7:57 am EDT (1157 GMT), with plans to spend six hours performing some maintenance work outside the station. However, shortly after the spacewalk started Parmitano reported feeling water inside his helmet, with that water building up as the EVa progressed. Station managers cut short the spacewalk, fearing the water buildup could be dangerous to Parmitano. The EVA ended 92 minutes after it started, with the two astronauts safely back inside the station. Station officials said the cause of the water leaking in Parmitano's helmet is not clear, and likely is not from a bag of drinking water in the helmet.