Astronauts aboard the International Space Station are gearing up for three complex spacewalks within less than a month to make necessary repairs and upgrades to their home in orbit, NASA said at a news briefing on July 30.
Two-person teams will improve the station’s power and communications as well as its docking capabilities, among other important objectives. NASA pointed out that changes being made during these spacewalks will contribute to the station’s ultimate de-orbit, set for as late as 2030.
The first of the three, spacewalk 96, will feature NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Anil Menon on Aug. 6. They will modify an exterior power channel and prepare a space to hold two additional rollout solar arrays scheduled for delivery aboard a SpaceX Cargo Dragon later this year.
The six-and-a-half-hour endeavor will be Meir’s sixth career spacewalk, as well as her third since she arrived at the station aboard NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission. She previously performed a seven-hour, two-minute spacewalk with NASA astronaut Chris Williams on March 18 to install a solar array modification kit, and then the two went outside again for seven hours and 20 minutes on June 30 to make repairs to the station’s robotic arm.
As for Menon, this will be his first career spacewalk.
The newly repaired robotic arm will play a crucial role in the next two spacewalks, according to NASA. One of the two astronauts will be mounted on the end of it to be carried off to different workstations across the structure, while the other maneuvers under his or her own power along the handrails installed across the exterior.
Spacewalk 97, scheduled for Aug. 13, will replace the station’s space-to-ground antenna, which is used to transmit data and high-speed communication between the station and Mission Control in Houston.
Spacewalk 98, on Aug. 25, will feature the largest variety of tasks of the three. The objectives include connecting power cables and data relays, as well as prepping cooling systems to receive work done on a later spacewalk.
The astronauts will also mend an exterior system called the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, remove and replace an exterior camera, replace retroreflectors that are critical to assisting spacecraft properly dock with the station, and take swabs of the station’s exterior and airlock to check for any microorganisms.
Details about the latter two spacewalks, including official astronaut assignments and start times, will be announced at a later date.
The spacewalk count is divided among the Russian side and the U.S.–European–Japanese side of the space station. While these three represent nearly 100 U.S.-led spacewalks, they will be the 281st, 282nd, and 283rd total spacewalks conducted in support of humanity’s orbital outpost.
