CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. After a spacewalking astronaut nearly drowned in his helmet in July, NASA has a plan to protect its crew when they venture into the vacuum of space this weekend: snorkels and absorbent towels. <\/p>\n
NASA has determined that as many as four urgent spacewalks are necessary to fix a broken cooling line that led to the shutdown of several systems at the International Space Station, the space agency said during a press conference Wednesday afternoon. Station managers decided to send two American astronauts out as soon as possible to replace a pump with a bad valve. <\/p>\n
The catch: Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano nearly drowned in July, when more than a gallon of water leaked into his helmet, filling it like a fishbowl. Should water start pooling up again, NASA says it will be ready -- thanks to a hack worthy of TV's \"MacGyver.\" <\/p>\n
- Allison Bolinger, NASA's lead U.S. spacewalk officer <\/p>\n
Some smart engineers on the ground said, hey, this looks like a snorkel youd use for scuba diving, explained Allison Bolinger, NASA's lead U.S. spacewalk officer. NASA realized that a water-line vent tube could be snipped down and attached with Velcro within the spacesuit, between a water restraint valve and the astronaut, she explained. <\/p>\n
The crew members themselves fabricated the snorkels on Sunday. <\/p>\n
This is your last resort if water is in your suit you can lean down and use this to breathe, Bolinger said. <\/p>\n
The space agency also installed absorptive pads in the back of each helmet, which will soak up any water that shows up like a sponge. The spacewalkers have been trained to tilt their heads back periodically to test the pad, she said; if it sucks up around 6 and a half ounces of water, it will feel squishy -- a sure sign of trouble. <\/p>\n
Thats a sign there is a problem in the EMU and its time to come inside, Bolinger said. <\/p>\n
The absorptive pads were designed on the ground and shipped up to the space station in a recent cargo craft. But while waiting for their arrival, NASAs engineers looked at other ways to MacGyver towels from material on board the space station: space diapers. <\/p>\n
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Snorkels in Space<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. After a spacewalking astronaut nearly drowned in his helmet in July, NASA has a plan to protect its crew when they venture into the vacuum of space this weekend: snorkels and absorbent towels. NASA has determined that as many as four urgent spacewalks are necessary to fix a broken cooling line that led to the shutdown of several systems at the International Space Station, the space agency said during a press conference Wednesday afternoon. Continue reading