Spacewalk cut short by equipment failure
Battery issues were causing "voltage fluctuations" in Russian astronaut's spacesuit, according to NASA.
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The International Space Station is pictured from the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour during a fly around of the orbiting lab on Nov. 8, 2021. (File Photo courtesy of NASA)
Aug. 17 (UPI) -- A Russian astronaut's spacewalk outside the International Space Station was cut short Wednesday after experiencing an electrical problem with his suit.
Expedition 67 commander Oleg Artemyev was ordered back to the airlock after reporting a malfunction with the battery power for his Orlan spacesuit.
"Drop everything and start going back right away!" Vladimir Solovyov, a former cosmonaut and flight director for the space station's Russian segment, radioed to Artemyev during the spacewalk, according to Space.com. "Oleg, go back and connect to station power."
NASA officials said during a livestream that Artemyev was never in any danger, but had his spacesuit's power cut off completely, he would have lost the ability to communicate with Denis Matveev, his fellow spacewalker.
The battery issues were causing "voltage fluctuations" in Artemyev's spacesuit, according to commentary on the spacewalk livestream.
In this photo taken from video footage released by Roscosmos Space Agency, Roscosmos' cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev are seen during their spacewalk on the International Space Station (ISS), on April 18, 2022. (Roscosmos Space Agency via AP)
A Russian translator said on the livestream that Artemyev jokingly told flight controllers that he felt "better than when he started the spacewalk" after returning to the ISS, CNN reported.
Artemyev and Matveev were installing two cameras on the new European robotic arm, which is affixed to the space station's exterior on the Russian-controlled portion of the space station. Once it is fully installed, it will move equipment and payloads.
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