Major Tim Peake has become the first British astronaut to go out into space on a spacewalk as he stepped out of the air lock along with US NASA astronaut, Tim Kopra, who was on his third spacewalk. The EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity), which began at 1255 GMT (hatch open), was to replace a voltage regulator called a Sequential Shunt Unit (which failed on 13 November 2015) at the end of the truss for the International Space Station’s 1b array. The replacement has to take place in the dark (the orbital night) to avoid voltage from the solar arrays electrocuting the astronauts. British ESA astronaut Tim Peake’s spacesuit had a Union flag (Union Jack) on its shoulder.
While the most important SSU replacement activity was performed successfully and an NPV (non-propulsive vent) was fitted, subsequent secondary activities, including the laying of extra cabling, was called off over two hours earlier than planned. Kopra reported water in his helmet and the two crew returned to the airlock. The spacewalk ended at 1731 GMT. The US spacesuits are known to have a fault involving leaking water which nearly drowned/choked Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano in 2014.
