NASA Investigating Why Water Spewed From Spacesuit During Spacewalk

Victor Tangermann

June 26, 2024 at 11:09 a.m.·2 min read

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On Monday, NASA had to suddenly cut a planned spacewalk outside of the International Space Station short after astronaut Tracy Dyson discovered water squirting from her spacesuit and obscuring her visor with ice.

Now, the astronauts are investigating what may have caused the leak, kicking off what NASA is calling a "spacewalk review" in a Tuesday update.

"[Astronaut Mike] Barratt began Tuesday morning troubleshooting Dyson’s spacesuit and inspecting the suit’s components," NASA wrote, while Dyson "wrapped up her day swapping out a water resupply tank in the Destiny laboratory module."

Oddly, the next spacewalk scheduled for next week is still technically on the table, indicating that NASA is confident in its crew members' ability to fix the problem.

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Dyson and Barratt were originally planning on removing a faulty electronics box and checking in on samples of microorganisms attached to the space station's exterior.

But just after the pair opened the station's airlock hatch, the umbilical cooling unit attached to Dyson's suit started spraying water "everywhere."

"I got an arctic blast all over my visor," Dyson told mission control at the time.

Fortunately, Dyson was able to stem the unexpected leak by reconnecting the umbilical unit attached to her spacesuit, and the pair managed to clamber back to safety.

Monday's spacewalk was actually the second to have been canceled by the space agency this month. A previous mission had to be called off after crew member Matthew Dominick reported a "spacesuit discomfort issue."

It's far from the first time astronauts have struggled with spacesuits leaking water. In October 2022, NASA resumed spacewalks after a seven-month hiatus, which was triggered by European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer noticing an unusual buildup of water inside his helmet.

Meanwhile, NASA and Boeing are still investigating the space company's leaking Starliner spacecraft, which is now stuck on the ISS indefinitely, rounding out a glitch-filled couple of weeks for the current crew.

More on the incident: NASA Astronaut Alarmed When Water Starts Squirting Out of Her Suit as She Embarks on Spacewalk

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