NASA has selected nine companies to provide architect and engineering services for the agency’s facilities in the southeastern United States.
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Inside the Integrated Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, the Landsat 9 spacecraft is moved into position for encapsulation.
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Astronauts Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) have concluded the first spacewalk conducted by two international partner astronauts out of the International Space Station’s Quest airlock at 3:09 p.m. EDT, after 6 hours and 54 minutes.
Hoshide and Pesquet successfully assembled and attached a support bracket in preparation for future installation of the orbiting laboratory’s third new solar array. NASA is augmenting six of the eight existing power channels of the space station with new solar arrays to ensure a sufficient power supply is maintained for NASA’s exploration technology demonstrations for Artemis and beyond as well as utilization and commercialization.
The crew also replaced a device that measures the electrical charging potential of the arrays and associated surfaces in its vicinity, called a floating point measurement unit, on a separate truss section. The new device was powered on successfully.
This was the fourth spacewalk for Hoshide, the sixth for Pesquet, and the 12th spacewalk this year. Hoshide has now spent a total of 28 hours and 17 minutes spacewalking, and Pesquet’s total spacewalking time is 39 hours and 54 minutes. Space station crew members have now spent a total of 64 days, 5 hours, and 54 minutes working outside the station conducting 244 spacewalks in support of assembly and maintenance of the orbiting laboratory.
In November 2020, the International Space Station surpassed its 20-year milestone of continuous human presence, providing opportunities for unique research and technological demonstrations that help prepare for long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars and also improve life on Earth. In that time, 244 people from 19 countries have visited the orbiting laboratory that has hosted nearly 3,000 research investigations from researchers in 108 countries and areas.
Learn more about station activities by following @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.
Mark Garcia
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Astronauts Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) have begun the first International Space Station spacewalk conducted by two international partner astronauts out of the station’s Quest airlock.
The spacewalkers switched their spacesuits to battery power at 8:15 a.m. EDT to begin the spacewalk, which is expected to last about six and a half hours.
Watch the spacewalk on NASA TV, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.
Hoshide is extravehicular crew member 1 (EV 1), wearing a spacesuit bearing red stripes and using helmet camera #22. Pesquet is extravehicular crew member 2 (EV 2), wearing the unmarked spacesuit and helmet camera #20.
The spacewalkers will begin by working together to build the upper bracket of the modification kit then installing first the left strut followed by the right strut to the mast canister, the base, of one of the solar arrays on the port side of the station’s backbone truss structure. The support bracket will enable future installation of a third of six new International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs) to upgrade one of the station’s eight power channels. Known as 4A, the channel provides partial power to the U.S. Laboratory, the Harmony module, and the Columbus module.
This is the fourth spacewalk for Hoshide, the sixth spacewalk for Pesquet, and the station’s 244th spacewalk in support of assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.
Learn more about station activities by following @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.
Mark Garcia
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NASA Television coverage of today’s spacewalk with astronauts Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) is now underway and is also available on the NASA app and the agency’s website.
The crew members of Expedition 65 are preparing to go outside the International Space Station for a spacewalk scheduled to begin at approximately 8:30 a.m. EDT and last about six and a half hours. They are ahead of schedule.
The crew is in their spacesuits in the airlock in preparation to exit the space station and begin today’s activities that will focus on attaching a support bracket in preparation for future installation of the orbiting laboratory’s third new solar array. NASA astronauts Megan McArthur and Mark Vande Hei are assisting Hoshide and Pesquet in preparations before they exit the station.
Hoshide and Pesquet will work on the port side of the station’s backbone truss structure closest to the station’s pressurized living space, a position known as P4. They will work together to build a bracket structure and attach the bracket and support struts to the mast canister, the base, of one of the P4 solar arrays. The modification kit will prepare the site for future installation and deployment of the third of six new International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs).
The crew also will replace a device that measures the electrical charging potential of the arrays and associated surfaces in its vicinity, called a floating point measurement unit, on a separate truss section.
Leading the mission control team today is Flight Director Adi Boulos with support from Sandy Moore as the lead spacewalk officer and NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins acting as the capsule communicator, or CAPCOM, to the crew.
Learn more about station activities by following @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.
Mark Garcia
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