NASA, Spacewalk Halted Due to Spacesuit Cooling System Leak (CNN.co.jp)

NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) announced on June 24 that a spacewalk had been aborted due to a water leak in the cooling system of a spacesuit worn by one of the astronauts.

The water leak occurred shortly after NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson's spacesuit switched to battery power, just before venturing outside the International Space Station (ISS). The cooling garment worn under the spacesuit is designed to keep astronauts comfortable while performing tasks. Dyson and fellow astronaut Michael Barratt were scheduled to remove a malfunctioning piece of electronics from a communications antenna on the exterior of the ISS. After the spacewalk was aborted around 9 a.m., Dyson reported still feeling warm and expressed concerns that the water leak might have affected electrical connectors.

According to NASA, the crew was never in any danger at any point during the incident. The spacewalk had been scheduled to begin in the morning of the 24th and last approximately 6.5 hours.

This spacewalk postponement is just the latest in a series of issues that have plagued ISS operations in recent weeks. This is the second time in a few days that a spacewalk has been suddenly halted due to a spacesuit issue. NASA scrubbed a spacewalk scheduled for June 13th due to a "discomfort issue" with Matthew Dominick's spacesuit. NASA has refrained from providing details about this issue to protect the astronaut's privacy.