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2019-03-27 -Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
NASA scraps all-women space walk for lack of well-fitting suits
[DAWN] The US space agency NASA scrapped Monday a planned historic spacewalk by two women astronauts, citing a lack of available spacesuits that would fit them at the International Space Station.

Christina Koch will now perform tasks in space Friday with fellow American Nick Hague ‐ instead of Anne McClain as originally planned.

Had Koch and McClain done their spacewalk together, it would have been the first ever by two women astronauts.

Until now, male-only or mixed male-female teams had conducted spacewalk since the space station was assembled in 1998 ‐ 214 spacewalks until now.

McClain worked outside the station last week ‐ with Hague ‐ when she realised that a "medium"-sized upper half of her spacesuit fit her better.

"Because only one medium-size torso can be made ready by Friday, March 29, Koch will wear it," NASA explained.
Posted by Fred 2019-03-27 00:00|| || Front Page|| [5 views ]  Top

#1 "I can't go on a space walk! I don't have anything to wear."

Sad, really. Not only can NASA no longer put a man on the Moon, they can't even put a woman in vacuum. Kudos to the geniuses who decided to make a routine event into one giant step for woman-kind... and then punted.
Posted by SteveS 2019-03-27 00:53||   2019-03-27 00:53|| Front Page Top

#2 It turns out to be worse then you can imagine.

The NEWEST EVA SUIT is 40 YEARS OLD!

The FUCKUPS in NASA have tried and expensively failed three times since to make new EVA suits!

I rest my case.
BTW Trump don't go to the moon or mars with NASA. Have some commercial bidding to do it and don't let NASA near any decision making.
Posted by 3dc 2019-03-27 00:56||   2019-03-27 00:56|| Front Page Top

#3 Links about it were on twitter
Posted by 3dc 2019-03-27 00:57||   2019-03-27 00:57|| Front Page Top

#4 NASA PDF: Office of Inspector General - NASA’S MANAGEMENT
AND DEVELOPMENT OF SPACESUITS April 2017

Case rested.
Posted by 3dc 2019-03-27 01:00||   2019-03-27 01:00|| Front Page Top

#5 Report No. IG-17-018
Beginning with the Gemini 4 mission in June 1965, NASA astronauts have ventured outside their spacecraft hundreds of times wearing specialized suits that protect them from the harsh environments of space and provide the oxygen and temperature control necessary to preserve life. The spacesuits NASA astronauts currently use on the International Space Station (ISS or Station) – known as Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMU) – were developed more than 40 years ago and have far outlasted their original 15-year design life.
While maintaining the existing fleet of EMUs for use on the ISS, the Agency has also spent almost $200 million on three spacesuit development efforts to enable human exploration in deep space, including missions to Mars: the Constellation Space Suit System ($135.6 million), Advanced Space Suit Project ($51.6 million), and Orion Crew Survival System ($12 million). A key part of these development efforts will be testing the next-generation spacesuit technologies on the ISS prior to its scheduled retirement in 2024.
In this audit, we examined NASA’s efforts to maintain its existing spacesuits and its plans for and progress in developing its next-generation spacesuits. To complete this work, we interviewed Agency and other relevant officials; analyzed cost, schedule, and performance data; and reviewed relevant reports, documents, and presentations.
Posted by 3dc 2019-03-27 01:04||   2019-03-27 01:04|| Front Page Top

#6 NASA continues to manage an array of design and health risks associated with the EMUs used by ISS crew. In addition, only 11 of the 18 original EMU Primary Life Support System units – a backpack-like structure that performs a variety of functions required to keep an astronaut alive during a spacewalk – are still in use, raising concerns that the inventory may not be adequate to last through the planned retirement of the ISS. Given these issues, NASA will be challenged to
continue to support ISS needs with the current fleet of EMUs through 2024, a challenge that will escalate significantly if Station operations are extended to 2028.
Despite spending nearly $200 million on NASA’s next-generation spacesuit technologies, the Agency remains years away from having a flight-ready spacesuit capable of replacing the EMU or suitable for use on future exploration missions. As different missions require different designs, the lack of a formal plan and specific destinations for future missions has
complicated spacesuit development. Moreover, the Agency has reduced the funding dedicated to spacesuit
development in favor of other priorities such as an in-space habitat.

After examining these spacesuit development efforts, we question NASA’s decision to continue funding a contract associated with the Constellation Program after cancellation of that Program and a recommendation made by Johnson Space Center officials in 2011 to cancel the contract. Rather than terminate the contract, NASA paid the contractor
$80.8 million between 2011 and 2016 for spacesuit technology development, despite parallel development activities being conducted within NASA’s Advanced Exploration Systems Division. Moreover, given the current development schedule, a significant risk exists that a next-generation spacesuit prototype will not be sufficiently mature in time to test it on the ISS prior to 2024. Finally, little schedule margin exists between anticipated delivery of the Orion Crew Survival System spacesuit in March 2021 and NASA’s current internal launch date of August 2021 for its first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit.
Posted by 3dc 2019-03-27 01:06||   2019-03-27 01:06|| Front Page Top

#7 ...And don't forget the incident in 2013 one of the suits went bad and nearly drowned an Italian astronaut.

Remember what I said a week or so back: NASA no longer exists to explore and research; they exist to funnel money to bureaucrats and contractors.

Mike
Posted by Mike Kozlowski 2019-03-27 04:44||   2019-03-27 04:44|| Front Page Top

#8 The fact that they were planning this spacewalk specifically to have an all woman team so a publicity stunt shows how far they have fallen.
Posted by CrazyFool 2019-03-27 06:06||   2019-03-27 06:06|| Front Page Top

#9 NASA's astronaut program is a complete dumpster fire.

Their planet exploration arm is good, as they contract it out and just set the goals, run the high level stuff and let the contractors do the rest. Maybe they should take that approach with their other programs. Clearly their current management is about as effective as the ones in Office Space.
Posted by DarthVader 2019-03-27 08:20||   2019-03-27 08:20|| Front Page Top

#10 
Posted by DarthVader 2019-03-27 08:21||   2019-03-27 08:21|| Front Page Top

#11 Personally I'm waiting for an all Norwegian American spacewalk.
Posted by Woodrow 2019-03-27 08:25||   2019-03-27 08:25|| Front Page Top

#12 What have they spent on that dog of a system SLS? $5 billion? Personally I'm waiting for the Swedish bikini team to show up.
Posted by AlmostAnonymous5839 2019-03-27 08:53||   2019-03-27 08:53|| Front Page Top

#13 Personally I'm waiting for the Swedish bikini team to show up.

No spacewalks though.
Apparently there are no 'DD' suits.
Posted by Skidmark 2019-03-27 09:37||   2019-03-27 09:37|| Front Page Top

#14 I'm glad this happened - they should be in the kitchen, making me a sammich!
Posted by Raj 2019-03-27 10:36||   2019-03-27 10:36|| Front Page Top

#15 AlmostAnonymous5839 - Much Much More than 5 billion.
Last I saw closer to 20 billion and climbing with not one rocket to show for it.
BTW SpaceX has now launched almost 70 rockets and their total cost is much less then what NASA has spent on the Senate Launch System Turkey.
Posted by 3dc 2019-03-27 12:31||   2019-03-27 12:31|| Front Page Top

#16 Dirty little secret. The all-woman spacewalk was scrubbed because they couldn't figure out how to make the space-burka airtight...
Posted by M. Murcek 2019-03-27 13:55||   2019-03-27 13:55|| Front Page Top

#17 Space but different:
StarHopper first flight updates & Photos
Posted by 3dc 2019-03-27 14:07||   2019-03-27 14:07|| Front Page Top

#18 So Anne wears space pants and Koch gets the suit.

Sounds like an inline for a naughty movie, and the only thing funny about this sad situation.
Posted by swksvolFF 2019-03-27 14:23||   2019-03-27 14:23|| Front Page Top

#19 Why didn't they just put some of these new gender conflicted men into the suits ? They're doing that with sports.
Posted by Dron66046 2019-03-27 15:05||   2019-03-27 15:05|| Front Page Top

#20 Why are there no muzz on Star Trek? Because it's the future...
Posted by M. Murcek 2019-03-27 15:11||   2019-03-27 15:11|| Front Page Top

#21 Today's NASA's extracurricular
Careers outshine extravehicular:
"Let's stick to our knitting:
New suits, more form-fitting,
Less spacious enclosures testicular!"

Or "gaffs," was it?
Posted by Bob Angosh7198 2019-03-27 15:48||   2019-03-27 15:48|| Front Page Top

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