NASA Astronaut Available for Interviews on Station Cooling System

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Dec 12, 2013, 04:15 ET

HOUSTON, Dec. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA astronaut Doug Wheelock, a veteran International Space Station spacewalker, will be available for live satellite interviews from 3 – 3:30 p.m. CST today, Dec. 12.

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Wednesday, a pump module on one of the space station's two external cooling loops automatically shut down when it reached pre-set temperature limits. These loops circulate ammonia outside the station to keep both internal and external equipment cool. The flight control teams worked to get the cooling loop back up and running, and they suspect a flow control valve actually inside the pump module itself might not be functioning correctly.

Wheelock and NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson conducted three spacewalks in 2010 to replace this same ammonia coolant pump module when a different component inside failed.

To participate in the interviews, reporters should contact the NASA Johnson Space Center newsroom at 281-483-5111 no later than 2:50 p.m. CST today, Dec. 12.

For more information about the International Space Station and updates on its cooling system, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

For more information on NASA TV coverage, see:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntvnews

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SOURCE NASA