14 DAY TRIAL // It seems that the coolant leak problem at the International Space Station is serious enough to warrant no further delay in fixing, so two astronauts are now preparing for an unscheduled spacewalk to try to fix it.
The spacewalk will be held tomorrow, and US astronauts Tom Mashburn and Chris Cassidy will venture out for six hours to see what can be done about the problem.
It's not the first time a spacewalk was made to attempt to fix an ammonia leak. Two astronauts walked out in November last year to fix a similar issue. It seemed that the problem was fixed at the time, and it's unclear if the situation now is related.
Using footage from ISS' cameras and from the astronauts aboard the ISS, a potential source for the leak has been identified, but the astronauts will have to confirm it and then try to fix the issue.
Ammonia is used in the cooling system for the solar arrays. Each array has a separate cooling system so, even if one fails, the three others will continue to operate as usual. As always, ISS Commander Chris Hadfield is keeping the world informed via Twitter.
"Big change in plans, spacewalk tomorrow, Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn are getting suits and airlock ready. Cool!," he tweeted.
"The whole team is ticking like clockwork, readying for tomorrow. I am so proud to be Commander of this crew. Such great, capable, fun people," he added.
Incidentally, these are Hadfield's last few days aboard the ISS, as he is scheduled to return home with the half of Expedition 34 that is still on board, leaving the three astronauts that make up Expedition 35 aboard.
Mashburn, one of the astronauts scheduled for the spacewalk, should be coming back too. It's unclear whether the spacewalk will affect the scheduled return home, delaying it by a few days perhaps.