NASA to Restart Spacewalks in 2025 After Spacesuit Repairs

In 2025, NASA plans to resume spacewalks on the International Space Station (ISS) after dealing with a leaky spacesuit issue that paused activities in June. The leak happened when astronaut Tracy Dyson encountered coolant problems just before starting a spacewalk. NASA's Bill Spetch mentioned that the affected spacesuit was repaired and repressurized successfully. The spacewalks will resume when it fits best with other ISS activities, such as spacecraft arrivals and departures.

NASA uses a type of spacesuit called the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU), which has been around since the 1970s. Despite its age, the EMU has a solid track record, helping build the ISS and service the Hubble Space Telescope. However, it has had some coolant leaks in recent years. In fact, spacewalks were paused for seven months in 2022 due to water in a helmet. A notable incident in 2013 involved Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano's helmet filling with water during a spacewalk. NASA is looking to private companies to create new spacesuits for future missions. The current EMUs were designed long ago when NASA's astronauts were mainly male. Collins Aerospace was supposed to deliver new suits, but they backed out because their timeline didn't match NASA's needs.

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