May 11, 2024

Astronauts Gearing Up for Today’s Spacewalk To Upgrade ISS Power System

Expedition 68 Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is pictured in his Extravehicular Mobility Unit, or spacesuit, during his 2nd spacewalk on February 2, 2023. He and fellow spacewalker Nicole Mann (out of frame) of NASA set up an adjustment set on the International Space Stations starboard truss structure that will make it possible for the future setup of the orbiting labs next roll-out solar range. Credit: NASA
Four astronauts from Expedition 69 are getting ready for a spacewalk to update the ISSs power system by setting up a solar variety, which showed up by means of the SpaceX Dragon car. At the same time, three cosmonauts are performing heart and plasma research study, and ensuring the stations operational effectiveness.
Four Expedition 69 astronauts are making final preparations ahead of todays spacewalk to continue upgrading the International Space Stations power generation system. Meanwhile, the orbital outposts three cosmonauts concentrated on heart research study and plasma physics while making sure station systems stay in great shape.
NASA Flight Engineers Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg are scheduled to set their Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMUs), or spacesuits, to battery power at 9:15 a.m. EDT on Friday officially starting a spacewalk to install a roll-out solar range on the stations starboard truss structure. Ahead of the spacewalk, the duo staged their EMUs and spacewalking tools inside the Quest airlock where they will exit the station into the vacuum of area.

He and fellow spacewalker Nicole Mann (out of frame) of NASA set up an adjustment package on the International Space Stations starboard truss structure that will allow the future installation of the orbiting labs next roll-out solar range. NASA Flight Engineers Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg are arranged to set their Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMUs), or spacesuits, to battery power at 9:15 a.m. EDT on Friday officially starting a spacewalk to install a roll-out solar array on the stations starboard truss structure. On the Roscosmos side of the area station, Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin partnered together for a long-running research study into the effects of weightlessness on the human heart.

Expedition 69 Flight Engineers Woody Hoburg, Frank Rubio, and Stephen Bowen, all from NASA, gather inside the International Space Stations Destiny lab module and speak to U.S. primary and junior high school trainees in the world. Credit: NASA
The roll-out solar ranges arrived on Tuesday after the SpaceX Dragon freight vehicle docked to the orbital lab following its Monday launch. Ground engineers on Wednesday from another location commanded the Canadarm2 robotic arm to eliminate the solar arrays from Dragons unpressurized trunk and connect them to a pallet on the starboard truss in preparation for Fridays installation spacewalk.
On the Roscosmos side of the spaceport station, Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin partnered together for a long-running study into the impacts of weightlessness on the human heart. Prokopyev later detached hardware that supported a plasma study that explores electrically-charged micro-particles such as electrons, ions, and neutral gases. Petelin examined methods to improve communications with international teams and mission controllers from around the globe. Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev worked throughout the day on computer and power systems maintenance.