NASA announced a last-minute radical decision that took many people by surprise, but we are talking about a measure that was absolutely necessary because at the moment it is about the safety of its astronauts. Those at NASA have made the decision to suspend any kind of space missions by astronauts due to fears that there could be a serious defect with some of the suits they use.
NASA made this decision after an ESA astronaut had a very serious problem with his suit used for space missions, water from the cooling system leaking inside the helmet that supplies him with oxygen and protects him from extremely low temperatures. For now, neither ESA nor NASA have any idea why this defect appeared in the suit used by the astronaut, but for the safety of people, the decision was made to postpone other missions in outer space.
NASA: Last Minute Decision Announced, What Important Measures Were Taken
NASA has been using decades-old suits to send its astronauts into outer space, and the age may be one of the reasons why this problem has arisen at the moment, even if this is not known without any doubt. The incident took place in March of 2022, and it was revealed only now by NASA and ESA, and the suspension of the astronauts' space missions remains active, even though no less than 5 months have passed since the moment it had place everything, a sign that not much is known yet.
The incident is very similar to one that took place in 2013, when an Italian astronaut also discovered that liquid from the suit was leaking inside the helmet that was supposed to protect him, so that even then a break similar to the one imposed now was needed by NASA. Then the Italian astronaut was close to drowning because of the water that entered his helmet, so NASA wants to avoid critical situations like this now.
NASA has not revealed when it might allow astronauts to go out into space again in the current suits that are present on the International Space Station, so it remains to be seen what kind of decisions will be made after the suits are reviewed.
