NASA hits a snag during recent spacewalk

Flight director Royce Renfrew said that though the two Tims were not in danger due to water bubble in the helmet of Tim Kopra, NASA suspended the spacewalk as a precautionary measure.

Major Peake’s wife, Rebecca Peake, tweeted “Thank you Scott for your fantastic support and brilliant words at start of EVA”, (EVA stands for extravehicular activity, i.e. a spacewalk). Tim Peake has beaten the likes of Kim Kardashian at their own game by posting the ultimate self-portrait on Twitter during his historic spacewalk on Friday. Huge thanks to the ground teams who make it all possible & keep us safe out there – you guys rock!’

It was the third spacewalk for Kopra.

“Although I am exhilarated by tomorrow’s spacewalk I have no time to dwell on these emotions”, he wrote, noting that the two Tims had six hours and thirty minutes to work on the Space Station’s hull, which were “meticulously planned”.

Major Peake said it was a proud moment to be wearing the Union Flag in space.

Throughout the mission, NASA astronaut and station commander Scott Kelly and Roscosmos’ Sergey Volkov and Yuri Malenchenko were there to assist.

The leak increased as Kopra and Peake returned to the airlock.

There was massive excitement in Westbourne and Emsworth, where Major Tim Peake grew up. Chief astronaut Chris Cassidy, who was Parmitano’s partner during the aborted 2013 spacewalk, said the cold temperature of the water indicated a leak from somewhere in the spacesuit’s backpack, containing a cooling system.

On Friday, Tim Peake became the first British astronaut to walk in space at International Space Station (ISS), but the spacewalk was cut short by NASA after U.S. astronaut Tim Kopra reported a leak in his spacesuit helmet. “The astronauts replaced a failed voltage regulator that caused a loss of power to one of the station’s eight power channels last November, accomplishing the major objective for this spacewalk”. He has been at the ISS for six months.

About four hours after becoming the first Briton to walk in space, Peake tweeted three pictures – including one of himself – as he shared his feelings on the landmark occasion. The first British citizen to fly in space, chemist Helen Sharman, visited Russia’s old Mir space station as part of a private competition in 1991. He stepped outside the International Space Staion’s Quest airlock just after 13:00 GMT.