Two NASA astronauts will conduct a spacewalk Saturday (Dec. 3) to put in new solar arrays on the Worldwide Area Station (ISS), and you’ll watch the motion dwell.
Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio are scheduled to step outdoors the ISS at 7:25 a.m. EST (1225 GMT) Saturday on a spacewalk anticipated to last as long as seven hours. Watch it dwell right here at Area.com, courtesy of NASA, or directly via the agency (opens in new tab). Protection begins at 6 a.m. EST (1100 GMT).
Cassada and Rubio will set up a brand new ISS Roll-Out Photo voltaic Array (iROSA), a job that NASA astronaut Nicole Mann and Japan’s Koichi Wakata will support from contained in the orbiting lab.
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Mann and Wakata “will help the astronauts out and in of their EMUs [spacesuits], maneuver the Canadarm2 robotic arm, in addition to monitor the spacewalkers through the tour,” NASA officers wrote in an update (opens in new tab) on Friday (Dec. 2).
Cassada and Rubio laid the groundwork for Saturday’s set up throughout a roughly seven-hour spacewalk on Nov. 15, on which they erected an iROSA assist body. That was the first-ever spacewalk for each of the astronauts, based on NASA.
Spacewalking astronauts have put in two of six deliberate iROSA arrays up to now. The brand new panels will increase relatively than substitute the present ISS solar-power system. As soon as all six iROSAs are up and operating, the orbiting lab’s electrical energy provide ought to enhance by 20% to 30%, NASA officers have stated.
On Saturday’s spacewalk, Cassada will probably be “extravehicular crew member 1” (EV 1) and can put on a spacesuit with pink stripes, NASA officers stated. Rubio will probably be EV 2 and can put on an unmarked swimsuit.
The duo are scheduled to put in one other iROSA throughout a spacewalk on Dec. 19. Throughout that tour, Rubio will probably be EV 1 and can completed the red-striped swimsuit.Â
Mike Wall is the writer of “Out There (opens in new tab)” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a guide concerning the seek for alien life. Comply with him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in new tab). Comply with us @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab), Facebook (opens in new tab) and Instagram (opens in new tab).
