Washington: NASA astronauts Anil Menon and Jessica Meir have completed a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS), carrying out structural work aimed at preparing the orbital laboratory for the installation of additional solar arrays.
The operation marked another milestone in the ongoing effort to upgrade the station’s power-generation infrastructure and extend its capabilities.
Six-hour spacewalk
Menon and Meir began the spacewalk after exiting the station through the Quest airlock. Over the course of approximately six and a half hours, the astronauts worked on the exterior of the ISS, installing and assembling components of a modification kit for one of the station’s power channels.
The equipment will help prepare the structure for the future addition of solar arrays, which are intended to increase the station’s power-generation capacity.
The spacewalk began at 8:33 am EDT on Thursday, corresponding to 6:03 pm IST, and ended at 3:00 pm EDT, or 12:30 am IST on Friday. The activity lasted around six hours and 27 minutes.
First spacewalk for Anil Menon
For Menon, the operation marked his first spacewalk. Meir, meanwhile, completed her sixth excursion outside the space station.
The latest mission was the 281st spacewalk conducted in support of the International Space Station, highlighting the extensive history of maintenance, construction and scientific work carried out outside the orbital complex.
Preparing the station for expanded power capacity
During the spacewalk, the astronauts focused on structural modifications required for the installation of additional solar arrays.
The planned upgrades are part of broader efforts to modernise the ISS’s power system and ensure that the station can continue supporting its scientific experiments and other operations.
The work also demonstrates the continuing role of astronauts in maintaining and upgrading the station, which has been operating as a major international research platform in low Earth orbit.
