Two NASA astronauts will venture outside the International Space Station, conducting US Spacewalk 91 on January 16 and US Spacewalk 92 on January 23 to complete station upgrades.
The first spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 11.00 pm (AEDT) on January 16 and last about six and a half hours. NASA will provide live coverage starting at 9.30 pm on its various streaming platforms.
NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Suni Williams will replace a rate gyro assembly that helps provide orientation control for the station, install patches to cover damaged areas of light filters for an X-ray telescope called NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer), and replace a reflector device used for navigational data on one of the international docking adapters.
Additionally, the pair will check access areas and connector tools that will be used for future maintenance work on the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.
Hague will serve as spacewalk crew member 1 and will wear a suit with red stripes. Williams will serve as spacewalk crew member 2 and will wear an unmarked suit. This will be the fourth for Hague and the eighth for Williams. It will be the 273rd spacewalk in support of space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.
The second spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 11.00 pm (EADT) on January 23 and last about six and a half hours. NASA will again provide live coverage beginning at 9.30 pm on its platforms.
Astronauts will remove a radio frequency group antenna assembly from the station’s truss, collect samples of surface material for analysis from the Destiny laboratory and the Quest airlock to see whether microorganisms may exist on the exterior of the orbital complex, and prepare a spare elbow joint for the Canadarm2 robotic arm in the event it is needed for a replacement.
After completing US Spacewalk 91, NASA will name the participating crew members for US Spacewalk 92. It will be the 274th spacewalk in support of space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.
