Archivo de la etiqueta: spacestation

Spacewalk Begins for Solar Array Modifications

NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Anil Menon began a spacewalk at 8:33 a.m. EDT outside the International Space Station to prepare the 3B power channel for the future installation of new roll-out solar arrays. Once installed, the arrays will provide additional power to support critical station operations, including its safe and controlled deorbit.

The spacewalk is streaming through a variety of platforms. Learn where to watch online: https://www.nasa.gov/live 

Meir is spacewalk crew member 1, wearing a suit with red stripes. Menon is crew member 2, wearing an unmarked suit.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Mark A. Garcia

Spacewalkers Prepare to Exit Station for Solar Array Mod Work

NASA is streaming live coverage as two NASA astronauts prepare for a spacewalk outside the International Space Station. The spacewalk is scheduled to begin at approximately 8:35 a.m. EDT and last about six and a half hours. Watch online at: https://www.nasa.gov/live 

During the spacewalk, NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Anil Menon will exit the station’s Quest airlock to prepare the 3B power channel for the future installation of International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays (IROSA). The solar array, scheduled for delivery later this year, will be the seventh IROSA and will provide additional power to support critical station operations, including its safe and controlled deorbit.

Meir will serve as spacewalk crew member 1, wearing a suit with red stripes. Menon will serve as crew member 2, wearing an unmarked suit. This spacewalk will be Menon’s first and Meir’s sixth.

It also will be the 281st spacewalk in support of space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Mark A. Garcia

NASA Astronauts Ready for Thursday Spacewalk

NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Anil Menon have been given the go by mission managers for Thursday’s spacewalk to prepare the International Space Station for future upgrades to its power system. The spacewalkers will spend about seven hours in the vacuum of space building a modification kit on the station’s Starboard 6 truss segment where a roll out solar array is slated to be installed later this year.

Meir and Menon spent Wednesday inside the Quest airlock finalizing tool configurations, staging spacesuits, and reviewing procedures for the spacewalk set to begin at 8:35 a.m. EDT on Thursday. Flight engineers Jack Hathaway of NASA and Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency) helped out with the last-minute spacesuit configurations then brushed up with the duo on the spacewalk procedures. Hathaway and Adenot will assist Meir and Menon in and out of their spacesuits and monitor the spacewalking activities on Thursday. NASA+ and a variety of other platforms will stream live spacewalk coverage beginning at 7 a.m.

Hathaway and Adenot also continued their futuristic workout studies on the European Enhanced Exploration Exercise Device (E4D) located in the Columbus laboratory module.  The duo took turns exercising in a seated position to evaluate the E4D’s effectiveness for use on missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

The three cosmonauts from Roscosmos aboard the orbiting lab stayed focused Wednesday on their task list of Earth observation studies, hardware inventories, and lab inspections. Flight engineers Andrey Fedyaev and Pyotr Dubrov partnered together configuring multi-wavelength imagery hardware for another automated overnight session to photograph Asian and Noeth American lakes and mountains. Fedyaev also took inventory of hardware that supports spacecraft dockings in the station’s Roscosmos modules. Dubrov joined flight engineer Anna Kikina for hull inspections inside the Zvezda service module.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Mark A. Garcia

Thursday Spacewalk Preps Continue, Crew Installs Advanced Earth Imaging Gear

The Expedition 75 crew continued preparing for a spacewalk scheduled for Thursday to augment the International Space Station’s power system. The orbital residents also installed advanced Earth observation hardware, continued space exercise research, and kept up lab maintenance.

NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Anil Menon, station commander and flight engineer respectively, worked throughout Tuesday configuring tools and studying procedures for a spacewalk set to begin at 8:35 a.m. EDT on Thursday. The duo will spend about seven hours building a modification kit on the station’s Starboard 6 truss segment where a roll out solar array will be installed later this year. NASA+ and a variety of other platforms will stream live spacewalk coverage beginning at 7 a.m.

Flight engineers Jack Hathaway of NASA and Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency) joined in the spacewalking procedure reviews since they will monitor the spacewalkers from inside the orbital outpost. Hathaway and Adenot will also assist Meir and Menon in and out of their spacesuits on Thursday.

Hathaway was back on exercise research in the Columbus laboratory module evaluating the effectiveness of the new European Enhanced Exploration Exercise Device (E4D). Hathaway worked out his upper and lower body on the E4D to test the gear for use on future space exploration missions. He also installed the ClimCam hardware that analyzes real-time Earth imagery captured for monitoring weather and climate changes. ClimCam will be robotically placed outside the space station to demonstrate small, intelligent camera systems that reduce reliance on ground-based image processing.

Adenot began her shift filming a pair of education videos for elementary and junior high school students. The first video highlighted how microgravity affects an astronaut’s height. Next, she filmed a video describing how critical thinking, cooperation, and creativity are necessary for living and working in space. She later assisted Hathaway with the smart camera installation job inside the Kibo laboratory module.

Roscosmos flight engineers Andrey Fedyaev and Pyotr Dubrov also worked on Earth observation hardware installing an imaging device in the Zvezda service module to photograph landmarks across Eastern Europe and Central Asia in multiple wavelengths. The different spectral signatures track the effects of storms, volcanic eruptions, and more informing proper emergency responses on Earth. Flight engineer Anna Kikina spent her Tuesday shift organizing and stowing hardware located inside the Zarya module.

NASA astronaut Chris Williams, who ended a 241-day space research mission on July 26, 2026, talked about his experiences living and working on the space station during his post-flight news conference at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, on Aug. 4. Williams described the sensation of spacewalking, the variety of space science he conducted, and mentioned Earth’s “beauty, its connectedness, and its fragility.”

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Mark A. Garcia

Spacewalk Preps, Health Research on Station as NASA Introduces SpaceX Crew-13

Spacewalk preparations and health research awaited the Expedition 75 crew aboard the International Space Station at the beginning of August. The next crew to visit the orbital outpost, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13, introduced themselves today during a news conference from Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Station commander Jessica Meir and flight engineer Anil Menon, both from NASA, continued reviewing the procedures planned for a spacewalk scheduled to begin at 8:35 a.m. EDT on Thursday. The duo also configured the tools and supplies they will use to build the platform upon which a roll out solar array will be installed later this year. NASA+ and a variety of other platforms will stream live spacewalk coverage beginning at 7 a.m.

Flight engineers Jack Hathaway of NASA and Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency) joined the duo for the spacewalk procedure reviews and practiced installing emergency jetpacks on the spacesuits. The jetpacks, officially known as Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue, or SAFER, can be operated by a spacewalker to maneuver back to the station in the unlikely event they became untethered from the space station.

Hathaway began his shift inside the Kibo laboratory module removing hardware that supported a pair of technology studies to demonstrate advanced computing and imaging in the vacuum of space. Afterward, Hathaway tested rope pulling and resistive exercises on the new European Enhanced Exploration Exercise Device (E4D) installed in the Columbus laboratory module. The E4D is optimized for working out in microgravity and is being evaluated for use on future space exploration missions.

Adenot tried on the EasyMotion-2 workout suit that sends electrical impulses and triggers muscle contractions to supplement her jogging session on the COLBERT treadmill in the Tranquility module. Afterward, Adenot configurated components inside the advanced resistive exercise device that mimics the forces of free weights on Earth to maintain muscle and bone health in microgravity.

Roscosmos flight engineers Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina took turns wearing a set of arm, wrist, and finger cuffs measuring their blood pressure to track how weightlessness affects the circulatory system. Afterward, the duo took a computerized hearing test in the Quest airlock to check for hearing changes that may occur in the operational environment of the station.

Roscosmos flight engineer Andrey Fedyaev kicked off his shift checking out communications and electronics hardware. Fedyaev wrapped up his day testing artificial intelligence tools to boost crew efficiency.

The four SpaceX Crew-13 members, the next crew to visit the space station, introduced themselves today from NASA’s Johnson Space Center and discussed their upcoming mission planned to launch no earlier than Sept. 12 aboard a Dragon spacecraft. Commander Jessica Watkins of NASA mentioned she is looking forward to returning to the station and “flying on Dragon on a second time.” Watkins will lead first-time space flyers Pilot Luke Delaney of NASA and Mission Specialists Joshua Kutryk of CSA (Canadian Space Agency) and Sergey Teteryatnikov of Roscosmos when they join the Expedition 75 crew aboard the orbital outpost.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Mark A. Garcia