Problem with spacesuit forces early end to Russian spacewalk

A Russian spacewalk from the International Space Station had to be stopped this week because of a problem with the spacesuit worn by the cosmonaut. Artemyev was working on the European robotic arm attached to the station's Nauka module on Wednesday, August 17, along with fellow cosmonaut Denis Matveev during a spacewalk that had originally been planned to last 6 and a half hours.

Cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev safely concluded their spacewalk at 1:54pm ET today after Artemyev's spacesuit displayed abnormal battery readings. More: https://t.co/M90zS7JZzD pic.twitter.com/MAolxUX7mO

— International Space Station (@Space_Station) August 17, 2022

The controllers ordered Artemyev to re-enter the space station after they noticed a problem with the power system in his suit. Artemyev was told by the Russian flight director to "drop everything" and head back to the airlock.

NASA representatives assured the public that Artemyev was not in danger, though any issue with a spacesuit occurring during a spacewalk obviously has the potential to be serious.

Chris Hadfield said that the instructions to drop everything were "urgent words you don't want to hear from Mission Control".

Urgent words you don't want to hear from Mission Control: “Drop everything and start going back to the airlock right away, and connect to station power.” Luckily, the suit power failure was dealt with, and the crew is OK. https://t.co/3USmRqr3Nf pic.twitter.com/KFTxUBJ9Sv

— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) August 19, 2022

Matveev continued to work alone after Artemyev returned to the space station, but the Russians decided to end the spacewalk early.

The EMU spacesuits used by the U.S. and European astronauts are different from the Russian-made Orlan spacesuits the two cosmonauts wore. The problem with Artemyev's spacesuit was that it was showing abnormal battery readings.

The European robotic arm that the pair were working on was put into a safe configuration and there are more spacewalks planned to continue work on it over the next few months. The arm is part of the Russian segment of the space station and will be worked on by Russians and Europeans.

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