NASA Orders Spacewalks to Fix International Space Station

Astronauts at the International Space Station (ISS) will attempt to fix the craft's broken cooling system during a series of three spacewalks in the coming days, NASA has announced.

The agency said it would delay a cargo resupplying mission until after the spacewalks, which are scheduled from Dec. 21 to Dec. 25, the agency announced Tuesday.

The cooling system began experiencing problems last week, when it shut down in response to low temperatures. Officials warned at the time that a spacewalk might be necessary to fix it.

The plan is for NASA astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins to remove a pump with a failed valve and replace it with a spare that is currently stored on an "external stowage platform," the agency said. Read more...