Space odyssey

Without a properly fitting suit for use in an emergency evacuation, Thomas would have had to turn around and come back to earth. “It fits the way it was supposed to fit to begin with,” reported space shuttle Endeavour’s commander, Terrence Wilcutt.

Possible last-minute alterations requested by Thomas may have contributed to the problem, said Jim Van Laak, deputy director of NASA’s shuttle-Mir programme.

“There were no objective problems with his spacesuit,” said Viktor Blagov, deputy chief of mission control. The astronaut simply turned out to be somewhat capricious. For us, it’s a symptom that the astronaut may remain capricious all through the flight.”

Thomas, the seventh and final American to be sent to live aboard Mir, arrived on Saturday aboard Endeavour. The trouble began on Sunday when he tried on the custom-fit suit. The suit was so tight he couldn’t get into it. Either he grew a lot in weightlessness, he said, or the suit was the wrong size, or both.

Astronauts’ spines commonly stretch in the absence of gravity, causing them to gain a few inches. Also, their chests and faces swell because of all the body fluids shifting upward.

After testing the suit in November, Thomas complained the material was bunching up behind his knees and upper legs and asked for alterations. “It’s unclear whether any changes actually were made,” Van Laak said.In any event, he never tried on the suit again until Sunday.

Thomas, before launch, also tried on the spacesuit belonging to his huskier predecessor on Mir, astronaut David Wolf, but it wouldn’t fit properly.

After much commotion, both in orbit and at the two control centres, NASA and the Russian space agency gave Thomas the go-ahead on Sunday evening to move from Endeavour into the adjoining Mir with the understanding that he would have to alter one of the suits.