Dec 13, 2013 01:06 PM EST By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

Attempts to fix a malfunctioning cooling loop from inside the International Space Station (ISS) are ongoing, but a spacewalk may very well be in the near future for the astronauts.

NASA confirmed in a press release that, as recently as Thursday, the astronauts on board the ISS were working with ground control to assess the problem and determine how to fix it. The crew is not and was never in danger, but it is an issue that needs to be solved in a timely manner.

ISS astronaut Rick Mastracchio told the Associated Press Friday he would look forward to a spacewalk should it be required. He said he has the experience and confidence to accomplish the mission, but still needs Mission Control to give him the green light.

"Any time you have something like this, it's good news, bad news," Mastracchio told the AP. "Of course, the bad news is the station's having problems and we have to go out and do a repair. The good news is we have the spare parts. We have the training. We have the skills and, of course, going out and doing a spacewalk is always very exciting - yet very challenging."

Cooling loop A shut down automatically Wednesday when it reached a pre-determined temperature limit. Right now, the main suspect of the failure is a bad flow control valve in the external pump. Cooling loop B is currently being used to supplement the failure of A, but the valve needs to be fixed before more issues complicate the problem.

WCJB cited unnamed sources who said a spacewalk has already been scheduled for Dec. 19, with two more to follow. This would be consistent with standard mission practices, as it took three spacewalks to install the cooling loop in 2010.

Mastracchio told the AP conditions are stable on board the ISS and NASA has not publicly confirmed a spacewalk, but on the ground and in the air, people are working to solve the problem.

"We still have lights. We still have the toilet working. We still have food, and we're still very comfortable up here," he said. "So the biggest problem is that we're just not taking the time during our schedule to do as much science as we normally would."

See Now: Covert Team Inside Newsweek Revealed as Key Players in False Human Trafficking Lawsuit