Astronauts Anil Menon of NASA and Joshua Kutryk of the Canadian Space Agency concluded a spacewalk lasting 7 hours and 11 minutes on the International Space Station. The mission involved the installation and deployment of a new International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array on the station’s 2A electrical power channel, representing the seventh such array added to the facility.
The upgraded solar arrays are designed to supply additional electrical capacity for the station’s core operations and to support the vehicle’s eventual controlled deorbit procedure. The spacewalk also included preparatory work for a subsequent mission scheduled for later this week, during which astronauts will install the eighth and final solar array on the station’s 3B power channel. NASA has scheduled live coverage of that upcoming spacewalk to begin at 6:45 a.m.
Once all eight new arrays have been installed, the power expansion project will reach completion. The combined output of these eight new arrays is expected to increase the station’s available electrical capacity by approximately 30 percent, boosting total generation from 160 kilowatts to roughly 215 kilowatts. The mission was designated as the 100th spacewalk conducted by U.S. personnel in support of the station and the 285th spacewalk overall dedicated to the assembly, maintenance, and improvement of the International Space Station. For Menon, the outing marked his fourth spacewalk, while Kutryk participated in his first.
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