Astronauts are about to step outside the space station

The two astronauts will leave the International Space Station (ISS) in the next few hours to fix the ammonia leak.

Sunita Williams (USA) and Akihiko Hoshide (Japan) are two astronauts who will be out of ISS at 12:15 on November 1 at GMT (19h15 on the same day as Hanoi). They will work outside the station for 6 1/2 hours. The walk will be broadcast live on the television channel of the US Aerospace Agency (NASA), Space reported.

ISS has 8 large solar panels and each is connected to a separate electrical system. Electrical systems are cooled by tubes containing ammonia gas.

The first mission of the two astronauts is to find the location where the gas escapes. If they do not find and handle an early leak, it could have a negative impact on one of the electrical systems.

"We still don't know where the gas is coming from now. It may appear in the pump system or one of the airways," said Mike Suffredini, who runs NASA's ISS operations.