Spacewalks to repair faulty ISS cooling system: NASA

In this Saturday, May 11, 2013 photo made available by NASA, astronaut Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn, not pictured, perform a space walk to inspect and replace a pump controller box on the International Space Station after an ammonia coolant leak was discovered. On Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2013, NASA decided to schedule a series of urgent spacewalks to fix a broken cooling line at the International Space Station. The first is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 21, 2013. AP Photo

US space agency NASA said Tuesday that a series of spacewalks will be necessary to repair a faulty cooling system on the International Space Station.

Under the current plan, two US astronauts, Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins, will venture outside the space station on three separate days of December -- 21, 23 and 25 -- to remove a pump module that has a failed flow valve. They will replace it with an existing spare that is stored on the orbiting lab, reported Xinhua citing a NASA statement.

The pump to be replaced is part of the station's external cooling loop that shut down Wednesday due to low temperatures. The space station has two external cooling loops, which circulate ammonia outside the station to keep both internal and external equipment cool.

NASA said that each of the three spacewalks will begin at 7.10 a.m. EDT and is scheduled to last six and a half hours.

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