Space Station Commander Finds Missing Air Scrubbers

Expedition 12 commander Bill McArthur (left) poses with a U.S.-built Extravehicular Mobility Unit while Valery Tokarev shows off Russian Orlan spacesuit while explaining spacewalks aboard the International Space Station. CREDIT: NASA/JSC.

NASA astronaut Bill McArthur has found a set of missing Russian spacesuit air scrubbers during a weekend search aboard the International Space Station (ISS), the U.S. space agency said Monday.

McArthur, who commands the ISS Expedition 12 mission, discovered the four lithium hydroxide canisters - which are used to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere of Russian-built Orlan spacesuits during spacewalks - on Saturday during an off-duty search, NASA said.

The missing canisters were tucked behind a panel inside the space station's Russian-built Zvezda service module. Without them, the ISS astronauts would have not been able to use Orlan spacesuits, which are tailored for work outside the station's Russian-built segments, until additional lithium hydroxide units arrived aboard an automated cargo ship in mid-April.

McArthur's find came days after NASA cleared a handrail issue that had barred spacewalks in U.S.-built spacesuits for about one month. With the handrail issue clear and the missing air scrubbers now found, McArthur and Expedition 12 flight engineer Valery Tokarev have regained full spacewalk capabilities aboard the ISS, if needed.

No spacewalks are currently planned for the remainder of the Expedition 12 crew's mission. McArthur and Tokarev are slated to return to Earth on April 8.

Their replacements, Expedition 13 commander Pavel Vinogradov and flight engineer Jeffrey Williams, will launch toward the ISS with Brazilian astronaut Marcos Pontes at on March 29 at 9:30 p.m. EST (0230 GMT). Pontes will return to Earth with the Expedition 12 astronauts.

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