Two American astronauts are preparing for a spacewalk to repair a leak of ammonia to the International Space Station (ISS), NASA said Friday. Shipping Tom Marshburn and Chris Cassidy to start on Saturday at 12 h 15 GMT (13 h 15 in France). Their main purpose will be to identify the source of the leak, said an official of the ISS, Michael Suffredini. According to the engineer, a meteorite or a piece of orbital debris could have caused the damage by hitting the cooling radiator. This concern, which was already a source of concern in recent years has worsened Thursday when two kilograms of ammonia leaked in a day against the same volume usually seen in a year.
“We’ll get them out and see if we can not find where the leak is coming from,” said Michael Suffredini told reporters. “It is most likely that the source (leak) the pump itself, so we will change the pump.” The two astronauts have already conducted three spacewalks each two team together. According to the Flight Director of NASA, Norm Knight, this output is “probably” one of the “faster” than the U.S. space agency has been organizing, creating therefore a “precedent” in his eyes. The agency also ensures that the team will not be in danger during this mission, which is expected to last six hours. It should not prevent either Tom Marshburn to leave the ISS on Tuesday with Canadian Chris Hadfield and Russian Roman Romanenko, who must return to Earth after completing their six-month orbital position.
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