Astronauts Deploy New Roll-out Solar Arrays Outside the Space Station: Spacewalk

NASA astronauts (Expedition 68 crewmates) Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio on Saturday, deployed a new 750-pound ISS Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSA) and bypassed a short in one of the International Space Station's eight power channels on their second spacewalk together in as many weeks.

The two astronauts began their outing at 1216 UTC, switching their suits to internal battery power shortly before exiting the U.S. Quest airlock. They completed all of the tasks set out for them by flight controllers, working right on schedule throughout the 7-hour, 5-minute extravehicular activity (EVA) outside the ISS. NASA Astronaut Nicole Mann and Koichi Wakata, a JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut, both on the Expedition 38 crew, operated the arm from inside the space station.

The new installed and unfurled solar arrays is now generating power from its perch on the station's Starboard truss segment.

"That is incredible," said Cassada, watching the solar array deploy.

"That is pretty cool," Rubio said.

 A fourth roll-out solar array will be installed on another spacewalk planned for Dec. 19.

WATCH astronauts Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio deploy the new roll-out solar arrays, and a 3-D animation illustrating their task