December 24, 2013

Nasa astronaut Mike Hopkins is seen during the spacewalk in this photo courtesy of Nasa, received December 22, 2013. - Reuters pic, December 24, 2013.Two American astronauts prepared to step out today on a rare Christmas Eve spacewalk to wrap up repairs to the cooling system at the International Space Station, Nasa said.

The spacewalk is set to begin at 1210 GMT (8.10pm MYT), marking the second outing to replace an ammonia pump module whose internal control valve failed December 11.

"The two spacewalkers will retrieve a spare pump module from an external stowage platform and install it in the currently vacated slot to restore full cooling capability for the complex," Nasa said.

Nasa astronauts Rick Mastracchio, 53, and Mike Hopkins, 44, made swift work of their first spacewalk on Saturday, disconnecting and pulling out an old cooling pump which regulates the temperature of equipment at the orbiting space lab.

They managed to complete almost two days' worth of work in a single outing that lasted just five and a half hours, ending an hour earlier than planned.

However, a problem emerged with Mastracchio's spacesuit afterward, adding new concerns about the safety of the 35-year-old gear that astronauts wear to protect them.

NASA said "a small amount of water" entered the suit's cooling system after Mastracchio had re-entered the space station airlock at the end of the spacewalk.

"As a result, flight controllers decided to switch to a backup suit for Mastracchio for the next spacewalk."

The task of resizing a spare suit on board the ISS took an extra day, and postponed the spacewalk from its initially planned date of yesterday to today.

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