Featured image: AI-generated explanatory image. A concept of space station power upgrades, not a mission photograph or an exact equipment layout.
NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk installed and deployed the eighth and final roll-out solar array outside the International Space Station on November 5. NASA said the spacewalk completed the station’s power augmentation upgrades.
The astronauts finished the six-hour, 59-minute spacewalk at 3:35 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. They installed the new International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array, or IROSA, on the station’s 3B power channel. The arrays unfurl from a rolled-up configuration.
According to NASA, work on the power upgrades began in February 2021. Astronauts carried out 18 spacewalks to prepare power-channel equipment and install the eight arrays. Together, the new arrays increased the station’s power generation capacity from 160 kilowatts to approximately 215 kilowatts.
In a November 6 follow-up, NASA reported that Menon and Kutryk reconfigured their spacesuits and stowed spacewalking tools inside the Quest airlock. They refilled suit water tanks, removed air bubbles, installed rechargeable batteries and checked that spacewalk-support equipment was powered down.
NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney had helped the spacewalkers into and out of their suits, monitored their activities and operated the Canadarm2 robotic arm on Thursday. They assisted with Friday’s cleanup and joined Menon and Kutryk for a post-spacewalk conference with engineers on the ground.
The outing was Menon’s fifth spacewalk and Kutryk’s second. NASA counted it as the 286th spacewalk supporting space station assembly, maintenance and upgrades.