In this July 16, 2013, NASA TV image, crew members attempt to remove the helmet of Luca Parmitano, center, an Italian astronaut stationed on the International Space Station, after it filled with water during a spacewalk. (Photo: NASA TV via AFP)
Story Highlights NASA launched formal investigation into leak last week About 1 to 1.5 liters of water leaked into Luca Parmitano's helmet Initially, in-suit drinking water bag and tubing from undergarment were thought to cause leak
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA engineers are narrowing in on the cause of the dangerous spacesuit water leak that could have drowned Italy's first spacewalker, officials said Monday.
Meanwhile, Luca Parmitano and crewmates aboard the International Space Station started unpacking a Russian space freighter that hauled up three tons of supplies and a spacesuit repair kit over the weekend.
Engineers "are looking at what steps to take next, this week," said NASA spokeswoman Brandi Dean. "They actually have isolated the failure to the spacesuit's Primary Life Support System, which is essentially the backpack of the suit."
STORY: NASA delves into spacewalk helmet mishapSTORY: Leak in helmet ends spacewalk
Last week, NASA launched a formal investigation into the July 16 close call outside the International Space Station.
About an hour into the planned six-hour, 15-minute spacewalk, Parmitano reported water leaking into his helmet, at the back of his head. The leak was not initially considered an emergency. But when flowing water clogged his ears, and covered his eyes and mouth, Mission Control aborted the spacewalk.
Parmitano and American astronaut Chris Cassidy were told to return to the relative safety of the station's U.S. Quest airlock. Parmitano made his way there by memory.
NASA Spacewalk Flight Director David Korth called it "grace under pressure."
"They actually have isolated the failure to the spacesuit's Primary Life Support System, which is essentially the backpack of the suit. "
- Brandi Dean, NASA spokeswoman
Engineers initially thought the leak - which dumped 1- to 1.5 liters of water into Parmitano's bubble-like helmet - must have come from an in-suit drinking water bag.
Then, the tubing that routes cooling water through his form-fitting undergarment was thought to be the culprit.
Investigators now are focusing on parts inside the spacewalker's backpack, which houses its primary life support system. Of interest: a sublimator that radiates heat from the suit, and a gas trap cartridge that filters oxygen running through the system.
The close call has indefinitely put off any U.S. outside maintenance work at the space station.
NASA hurried to ship a spacesuit repair kit to Kazakhstan last week so it could be launched to the station aboard a robotic Russian space freighter.
The Progress 52 cargo carrier arrived at the outpost late Saturday after launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome that same day. Parmitano and his crewmates began unloading it Monday.
Still unclear: exactly when the U.S. spacesuit investigation will conclude, and when maintenance work outside the U.S. segment of the International Space Station might resume.
In the meantime, cosmonauts wearing Russian Orlan spacesuits will set out on spacewalks twice in August.
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