Russian cosmonauts' spacewalk outside ISS called off for technical reasons - Roscosmos

MOSCOW. Dec 15 (Interfax) - A spacewalk by Russian cosmonauts working on board the International Space Station (ISS) has been cancelled for technical reasons, the Roscosmos press service said.

"The spacewalk by cosmonauts Sergei Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin outside of the International Space Station as part of the Russian program was cancelled for technical reasons," the press service said.

Russia's Mission Control Center earlier on Thursday decided to call off the spacewalk due to a coolant leak from the Soyuz spacecraft, currently docked to the ISS.

"There are no leaks inside the spacecraft, everything is totally in order aboard the station as well," the Mission Control Center said.

During their spacewalk on Thursday, Prokopyev and Petelin were expected to use the European Robotic Arm for the first time.

It is the second time in a row that a spacewalk as part of the Russian program has been called off. Prokopyev and Petelin's scheduled spacewalk on November 25 was aborted after a problem with the cooling system in one of the Russian cosmonauts' spacesuits was discovered.