NASA approves Sunday spacewalk despite water leak in astronaut's helmet

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — American astronauts will venture back out for a spacewalk this weekend, despite a helmet water leak on their previous trip outside the International Space Station.

NASA today cleared astronaut Terry Virts' spacesuit for the last of three spacewalks to install cable. Mission managers believe they understand the quirks with this older suit and insist it is safe to use for Sunday's spacewalk.

In 2013, another astronaut nearly drowned because of a flooded helmet. On Wednesday, the amount of water seepage in Virts' helmet was significantly smaller and occurred at the end of the spacewalk when Virts was already inside.

"They're very different occurrences," said Alex Kanelakos, a spacewalk officer in Mission Control.

Kanelakos said the latest leak was the result of condensation that occurred during the air lock repressurization. There have been seven other similar instances on this particular suit, he said.

"It's a known feature," Kanelakos said during a NASA broadcast today.