Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk spent just over seven hours outside the International Space Station today, his first spacewalk. He and NASA’s Anil Menon wrapped up at 3:08 p.m. ET, NASA says, after leaving the airlock at 7:57 a.m.
A few numbers
- 5th: Kutryk is the fifth Canadian astronaut to do a spacewalk, Space.com reports. The last was David Saint-Jacques in 2019, according to Radio Canada International.
- 100th: It was the 100th U.S. spacewalk from the station.
- 7 hours, 11 minutes: the length of the outing, per Space.com.
- About 12 minutes: how long the new solar array took to unroll once it started.
What they did
The job was to install a roll-out solar array, a panel that arrives rolled up like a yoga mat and spreads out on its own along two flexible booms. Menon rode Canadarm2, the station’s Canadian-built robotic arm, to carry the rolled-up array to its spot. About four hours and 23 minutes in, Mission Control reported “the iROSA deploying now,” and about 12 minutes later it was fully extended, partly covering one of the station’s older, worn-out panels, Space.com reports.
It’s the second-to-last of the new arrays. Kutryk and Menon are scheduled to go back out on Nov. 5 to install the last one. Together, the new arrays are meant to boost the station’s power, which RCI says will rise from 160 to 215 kilowatts.
Saint-Jacques summed up the job to RCI: “It’s ridiculously dangerous, but we’re well-prepared.”
Why it’s worth your time: It’s a good day for Canada in orbit: a Canadian astronaut outside the station, helped along by a Canadian robotic arm. If you missed today’s, NASA’s coverage of the Nov. 5 spacewalk starts at 6:45 a.m. ET, SpaceQ reports.