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2 astronauts will finish upgrading ISS solar arrays during spacewalk today: Watch it live
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NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk will step outside the International Space Station on Nov. 5 to install the eighth and final International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array (iROSA). The roughly seven-hour spacewalk begins at 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT). Space.com will carry NASA's live coverage from 7 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT).
The excursion is Menon and Kutryk's second spacewalk in a week. The duo installed the station's seventh iROSA during an Oct. 29 EVA. That earlier spacewalk was the 100th U.S. spacewalk from the ISS and the first by a Canadian astronaut since 2019.
Today's installation completes a power upgrade begun in June 2021. NASA officials said the work will augment the station's power-generating capacity from 160 kilowatts to about 215 kilowatts. That represents a boost of roughly 30%.
The added power is critical for ISS operations, research, and commercial activities. The iROSA units are designed to modernize the station's aging solar arrays and extend their operational life. More power supports the station's expanding research portfolio.
"The installation job will complete the years-long process," NASA officials wrote in a blog post on Nov. 3. The agency is providing live coverage of the spacewalk. Officials have emphasized the importance of the upgrade for the station's future.
Menon and Kutryk share the ISS with five astronauts: NASA's Luke Delaney and Jessica Watkins and cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov, Anna Kikina, and Sergey Teteryatnikov. Delaney, Kutryk, Teteryatnikov, and Watkins arrived Oct. 1 on SpaceX's Crew-13 mission. Dubrov, Kikina, and Menon arrived mid-July on a Soyuz spacecraft.
Once the final iROSA is installed, the station's power system will be fully upgraded. The spacewalk wraps up an ambitious, multi-year effort to enhance the orbiting laboratory's energy capabilities. The upgrade is expected to support future missions and research.
