Two astronauts made a 7-hour spacewalk
NASA and CSA astronauts completed work that increased the station's electricity generation capacity
Quick Look
NASA astronaut Anil Menon and CSA astronaut Joshua Kutryk performed a 6-hour, 59-minute spacewalk aboard the International Space Station and installed IROSA's eighth and final panel, increasing its electrical generation capacity from 160 kilowatts to approximately 215 kilowatts.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Work to increase the electricity production capacity of the International Space Station began in February 2021. Since then, astronauts have made 18 spacewalks to prepare equipment for power channels and install eight solar panels.
NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Joshua Kutryk, who are working on the International Space Station (ISS), performed a 6 hour and 59 minute spacewalk today.
During the walk, the two astronauts activated the eighth and final panel of the ISS' retractable solar panel system (IROSA) by mounting it on the station's 3D power channel. Thus, the work to increase the electricity production capacity of the station was completed.
Work to increase the station's electricity generation capacity began in February 2021. Since then, astronauts have made 18 spacewalks to prepare equipment for power channels and install eight solar panels. Thanks to retractable solar panels, the station's electricity production capacity increased from 160 kilowatts to approximately 215 kilowatts.
This mission, the 101st spacewalk of the USA, was recorded as Menon's fifth and Kutryk's second spacewalk. This was also the 286th spacewalk carried out as part of the construction, maintenance and development of the space station.
Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk, born in 1982, is originally a fighter pilot colonel and engineer. On October 1, it was sent to the International Space Station with NASA's SpaceX Crew-13 crew.
NASA astronaut Anil Menon, who was born in 1976 as the child of a Ukrainian and Indian immigrant couple, was also launched into orbit with the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft on July 14, 2026. Menon, who holds the rank of colonel in the US army, also serves as a flight surgeon at NASA.
