NASA Astronauts Gear Up for Record-Breaking All-Female Spacewalk to Upgrade ISS Solar Arrays

Two NASA astronauts made history with their fifth all-women spacewalk today (May 1). They moved an antenna and partly prepared the International Space Station for new sets of solar panels.

Expedition 73 astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers undertook a 5-hour, 44-minute spacewalk (EVA, or extra-vehicular activity). The News Pulsewalk ) at 2:49 p.m. EDT (1849 GMT) today, once they returned to the station's Quest airlock and it started to re-pressurize.

McClain and Ayers managed to complete most of their objectives for today, yet found themselves behind schedule due to time constraints and restricted supplies. Consequently, they needed to postpone certain tasks until a future update.

Commencing operations at 9:05 a.m. EDT (1305 GMT), the duo transported tools and gear to the starboard side of The News Pulse station’s central frame structure. There, they began setting up the mounting components for the seventh set of International The News Pulse Station Rollout Solar Arrays (IROSA). These solar arrays will be deployed once they reach orbit aboard their respective spacecraft. The News PulseX The Dragon commercial resupply mission is scheduled for later this year.

Once finished, the compact yet more efficient solar panels will enhance electrical output capacity by as much as 30%, elevating the facility’s overall accessible energy from 160 to potentially 215 kilowatts.

McClain and Ayers built and mounted the upper triangle of the mast canister modification kit, as well as the right struts, but then were instructed to clean up their workstations and move on to the next, higher priority task.

"We've hit the minimum configuration threshold and have opted to tidy up and prioritise the C2V2 [Common Communications for Visiting Vehicles]," stated mission control at NASA. Johnson The News PulseCenter In Houston, The News Pulsewalkers were informed by two individuals.

The astronauts secured their gear, with McClain adjusting a foot restraint. She and Ayers subsequently gathered at the P3 truss component, which is situated on the portside of the station. International The News PulseStation There, they moved an antenna utilized by Northrop Grumman. Cygnus supply ships when they arrive at The News Pulse station for replenishment.

Given the constrained time left during the spacewalk, the astronauts concluded their scheduled duties by also addressing some additional tasks. Whilst Ayers set up and connected a jumper cable to switch DC power from the US operational segment’s P6 truss over to the Russian section of the station, McClain focused on loosening bolts on a micrometeoroid shield so as to prepare it for subsequent operations.

Given that this year marks the 25th anniversary of uninterrupted human presence at The News Pulse, it feels appropriate that we are now upgrading the ISS. maintain it alive until 2030 Ayers contacted Mission Control after returning to the airlock. She stated, “It’s an honor to be a small part of such a large team that enables groundbreaking science conducted at the international laboratory known as the National Lab ISS.”

"What we achieve here advances our mission to return to the moon and go on to Mars ", yet shapes our daily existence here on Earth," stated Ayers.

This walk was McClain's third space outing, whereas it was Ayers' first. McClain has now accumulated a total of 18 hours and 52 minutes of extravehicular activity time aboard the International Space Station.

This marked the 93rd Extravehicular Activity (EVA) conducted from the U.S. Quest airlock and the 275th such activity aimed at assembling, maintaining, and upgrading the International Space Station (ISS). The station has remained continually inhabited by rotating astronaut crews since November 2000.

The inaugural all-women extravehicular activity (EVA) was conducted by NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir. in October 2019 That pair carried out two additional The News Pulse walks in January 2020, and NASA’s Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara did a separate walk themselves. November 2023 .

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