NASA Postpones US Spacewalk Over Astronaut's ‘Minor Medical Issue'

NASA says the spacewalk wasn’t time-sensitive, had to be postponed due to a minor medical issue involving one of the 2 astronauts.

Representational image of an astronaut in the space | Photo: Twitter/International Space Station

New Delhi: The US spacewalk planned outside the International Space Station planned for August 24 has been postponed, the space agency said.

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide were to undertake the spacewalk Tuesday and a preview briefing for it was scheduled to be held on August 23.

According to a NASA statement, the spacewalk had to be postponed “due to a minor medical issue” involving astronaut Vande Hei. The issue, however, is “not a medical emergency”, the agency said. 

NASA also said the spacewalk is not time-sensitive, and that members of the crew are going ahead with other work and activities at the International Space Station. 

The next date for the spacewalk will be decided after the launch of the SpaceX CRS-23 cargo resupply, which is planned for August 28, and the upcoming two scheduled spacewalks by Russian cosmonauts, the space agency said.

According to reports, Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov are to make the first spacewalk on September 2 and the second on September 8. 

NASA said teams are assessing the next available opportunity to conduct the US spacewalk.

There will also be a new date for the preview briefing originally scheduled for August 23, the statement said.

The spacewalk preview briefing today at 2 pm ET and tomorrow’s spacewalk have been postponed. For further updates, please visit https://t.co/fjAFP6CRQU. pic.twitter.com/aZ19jVOKA5

— International Space Station (@Space_Station) August 23, 2021

Astronauts Were To Set Up ‘Port-4 (P4) Truss Structure’

NASA had earlier said the August 24 spacewalk was to see Commander Akihiko Hoshide and Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei spend about 6 hours and 50 minutes outside the ISS to set up the “Port-4 (P4) truss structure for future Roll-Out Solar Array installation work”. They were scheduled to install a modification kit on P4, preparing the site for “the third of six new solar arrays planned for the station”.

The other three members of the crew are to provide support to the spacewalkers.

On August 18, flight engineers Megan McArthur and Thomas Pesquet reviewed their support roles that included controlling the ‘Canadarm2 robotic arm’ and helping Hoshide and Vande Hei in and out of their US spacesuits. 

The third crew member, Flight Engineer Shane Kimbrough, also spent several hours assembling the solar array modification kit that the two astronauts were to install on August 24, NASA had said last week.