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NASA Astronauts Conduct Spacewalk To Prepare Space Station For Future Solar Array
NASA Astronauts Conduct Spacewalk To Prepare Space Station For Future Solar Array
Keneci Network | @kenecifeed
NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers successfully completed a 5-hour and 44-minute spacewalk(or Extravehicular Activity, EVA 93) on Thursday(May 1), outside the International Space Station (ISS).
"Astronauts Takuya Onishi and Jonny Kim are inside the space station monitoring today's spacewalk," ISS stated on X.
During the Spacewalk 93 which started around at 1205 UTC and concluded at 1849 UTC, the crew relocated a space station communications antenna known as the Common Communications for Visiting Vehicles (C2V2) antenna. It is used by Northrop Grumman's Cygnus cargo spacecraft when they approach the ISS for resupply missions.
The crew installed a mounting bracket to prepare for the future installation of an additional set of International Space Station Rollout Solar Arrays (IROSA). They Installed a jumper cable which will provide power from the P6 truss (a segment of the ISS's main truss structure) to the Russian segment of the station. They also removed bolts from a micrometeoroid debris cover -- this prepares the cover for future work.
"The [IROSA] arrays will boost power generation capability by up to 30%, increasing the station’s total available power from 160 kilowatts to up to 215 kilowatts," NASA officials wrote in a spacewalk preview. "The arrays will be installed on a future spacewalk following their arrival on a SpaceX Dragon commercial resupply services mission later this year."
The IROSA upgrades are part of a multi-year effort to modernize the ISS’s power infrastructure. Previous IROSA installations occurred between 2021 and 2023, with the seventh and eighth arrays planned for 2025 to further augment the 2A and 3B power channels. These upgrades not only extend the ISS’s operational life but also inform technologies for NASA’s Artemis program and the Lunar Gateway.
A minor issue occurred when McClain noticed fibers(or strands of string) protruding from her glove’s index finger, briefly delaying the start. Mission Control verified the suit’s integrity before proceeding.
McClain served as spacewalk crew member 1 and wore a suit with red stripes, while Ayers served as spacewalk crew member 2 and wore an unmarked suit. This was the third spacewalk for McClain, the first for Ayers, and the 275th overall in the history of the ISS. Both women arrived at the orbiting lab on March 16 on SpaceX's Crew-10 mission.
This will be just the fifth all-female spacewalk, and the first one since November 2023. The very first female-only EVA was conducted by NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir in October 2019.
EVA 93 was part of the ongoing maintenance and upgrades of the International Space Station.
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