Santa, it seems, works in mysterious ways, particularly on the International Space Station.

Just in time for Christmas, Rick Mastracchio, one of two National Aeronautics and Space Administration astronauts currently serving on the orbiter, may get his wish for a spacewalk or two, thanks to the station's cooling system that recently broke down.

Mastracchio, an engineer and experienced spacewalker who previously flew missions on the Space Shuttle, told the Associated Press he's more than ready to break out his space suit and venture out to make repairs to the unit, if mission managers decide it's necessary.

"Any time you have something like this, it's good news, bad news," Mastracchio said earlier today. "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."

One of the station's two cooling loops shut down earlier this week. Flight controllers think a faulty valve inside an external pump was to blame. The shut-down is considered serious and needs to be fixed soon, in case other problems occur.

The space station's cooling system uses ammonia to dissipate the heat generated by the on-board machinery.

Mission engineers in Houston have been working through the issue, hoping to solve the problem remotely --- before the station crew needs to conduct any spacewalks to replace the pump, as astronauts did in 2010, when they had to go outside three times to complete the job.

After the cooling system froze Dec. 11, the six astronauts turned off all nonessential equipment --- including some science experiments --- to reduce the heat load. Mastracchio said that with some of their tasks suspended until after the system is repairs, he and his crew mates, who also hail from the Russian and Japanese space programs, have ended up with a good amount of free time. Otherwise, station life is pretty much the same.

"We still have lights. We still have the toilet working. We still have food, and we're still very comfortable up here," he explained. "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."

The cooling problem may cause the delay of an upcoming delivery mission by the commercial Cygnus capsule. Liftoff for the supply ship is currently scheduled for next Wednesday from Wallops Island, Va.

Mastracchio indicates he doesn't expect to do any last-minute holiday shopping online, since he bought presents for his wife before he blasted off at the start of November for the six-month ISS mission.

"Being away from your friends and family during the holidays is not optimal," said Mastracchio. "But, if you have to be away from your family on Christmas, then this is sure not a bad place to be."