NASA launches new probe of spacesuit failure

Washington: The US space agency said on Tuesday it is launching a second investigation into a leaking helmet that forced an abrupt halt to an Italian astronaut’s spacewalk last week.

The probe will examine maintenance, quality assurance, and any operations that could have had a role in the gushing water that mysteriously appeared in the helmet of Italian spacewalker Luca Parmitano.

His spacewalk on July 16 was stopped after about an hour and a half, marking the second shortest in the history of the International Space Station.

The 36-year-old made it safely back inside orbiting research outpost and was unhurt, though NASA experts said he faced the risk of drowning had the ordeal gone on much longer.

NASA engineers swiftly turned to the spacesuit cooling system as the potential source of the leak, after determining it was unlikely the water came from Parmitano’s inner helmet drink bag….

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