Subscribe to one of our news e-mail lists . For the past eight years, NASA's spacewalking suits could have burst into flames because oil had contaminated the backup oxygen systems, the agency said Friday. All of NASA's 12 suits are contaminated, said Gregory Harbaugh, an astronaut in charge of the agency's spacewalk office. Each emergency oxygen pack is being cleaned, and special filters will be used to fill them to make sure no more dirt gets inside.
Oil can ignite when combined with the pure oxygen that spacewalking astronauts breathe.
If a micrometeorite had pierced an astronaut's pressurized suit and the high-pressure oxygen pack had been turned on, disaster could have happened, Harbaugh said. NASA officials said the problems came to light last month when NASA sent a leaky oxygen regulator back to the manufacturer. When technicians found oil, NASA ordered inspections for the other units. One milligram is considered an acceptable level. The backup systems had not been disassembled since 1992.