A Russian spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) hit a snag today (Aug. 17).
Cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev ventured outside the orbiting lab today at 9:53 a.m. EDT (1353 GMT) to continue booting up the European Robotic Arm, which arrived at the Russian segment of the ISS in July 2021.
The duo was scheduled to stay outside for about 6.5 hours. But two hours into the spacewalk, Artemyev began experiencing voltage fluctuations in his Orlan spacesuit, an indication of a likely battery problem, and Russian mission control ordered him to get back into the airlock of the station’s Poisk module.
Artemyev did so, then plugged his suit into the orbiting lab’s power system. The cosmonaut was close to the airlock at the time the issue was noticed, and he was not in serious danger, according to NASA public affairs officer Rob Navias, who provided commentary during the spacewalk.
Matveev, meanwhile, moved close to the airlock but remained outside the station. Both cosmonauts are currently awaiting further instructions; it’s unclear at the moment if the spacewalk will be called off.
Keep checking back with Space.com. This story will be updated as soon as there is more news to report.
Mike Wall is the author of “Out There (opens in new tab)” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in new tab). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or on Facebook (opens in new tab). Â
