NASA TV is Live as Astronauts Get Ready for Spacewalk

Spacewalkers (from left) Thomas Pesquet and Shane Kimbrough will work to deploy the first new ISS Roll-Out Solar Array (iROSA) to upgrade the station’s power supply.
Spacewalkers (from left) Thomas Pesquet and Shane Kimbrough will work to deploy the first new ISS Roll-Out Solar Array (iROSA) to upgrade the station’s power supply.

NASA Television coverage of today’s spacewalk with NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet is now underway and is also available on the NASA app and the agency’s website.

The Expedition 65 crew members are preparing to go outside the International Space Station for a spacewalk expected to begin at approximately 8 a.m. EDT and last about six and a half hours.

The astronauts are in their spacesuits in the airlock in preparation to exit the space station and begin today’s activities to deploy the first new ISS Roll-Out Solar Array (iROSA) to upgrade the station’s power supply.

Kimbrough and Pesquet will be working near the farthest set of current solar arrays on the station’s left (port) side, known as P6, to continue the solar array upgrade on the 2B power channel. The two installed the solar array into its mounting bracket during a June 16 spacewalk, but an interference associated with the array’s hinge created an alignment issue and prevented a full roll-out. Ground teams have since identified the solution related to the sequence of deployment.

The crew members will work together to deploy the solar array from its flight support structure. Once they complete unfolding and the new array and driving the final two bolts into place, the spacewalkers install cables to for connection to the station’s electronics. If successful, Kimbrough and Pesquet will turn their attention to get-ahead work for the second iROSA installation.

Leading the mission control team today is Flight Director Ron Spencer with support from Kieth Johnson as the lead spacewalk officer.

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



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