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Expert suggests theory for fault in Russian cosmonaut's space suit

Posted on: Friday, 27 February 2004, 06:00 CST

Excerpt from report by Russian Channel One TV on 27 February

[Presenter] Space walk carried out by the International Space Station crew last night ended before the scheduled time but on the whole was a success. Aleksandr Kaleri and Michael Foale installed a mannequin called Rendo on the exterior of the station to study the effects of space radiation on the human body. The less labour- intensive part of the scheduled work had to be postponed because of a fault in the Russian astronaut's space suit. Ivan Yevdokimenko has further details.

[Correspondent] The fact that Aleksandr Kaleri's space suit was not cooling off properly was spotted by the Mission Control minutes after the space walk began. There was no danger to the cosmonaut's life but the problem made it more difficult for him to do his work, with the visor in his helmet steaming up.

The main theory as to what may have caused the fault in the temperature control system suggests that a water cooling tube inside the space suit may have became squeezed.

[Vladimir Solovyev, captioned as Mission Control Centre flight chief] We discovered that one of the tubes somehow was pressed, squeezed. And when Kaleri fiddled with it, he immediately sensed that the temperature control inside the space suit had improved.

[Correspondent] Mission Control experts do not think that the problem with the temperature control system was caused by the space suit in question being defective. Most likely, the fault that developed had more to do with the way the space suit was prepared for the space walk. Orlan-M space suits in their present modification have been used for space walks for over a decade. [Passage omitted.]

Last night's space walk was carried out in old space suits that were manufactured four years ago. Their service life envisaged one or two more space walks. After the incident, it was decided that next time the cosmonauts will use new space suits produced in 2003. Nevertheless, the old space suits will be kept on the station: they may come in useful for spare parts.

[Video shows Orlan-M space suits in a show room of the Zvezda plant where it is manufacured.]

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