NASA astronauts unable to return to Earth set for 'spacewalk'
Two NASA astronauts who have been on the International Space Station since June 2024 are preparing for a spacewalk. A spacewalk, also known as an extravehicular activity (EVA), is when an astronaut leaves their spacecraft and works outside in space.
Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore blasted off to the space station last year. Their mission was supposed to take between eight and ten days, but their Boeing Starliner spacecraft experienced problems.
Suni Williams is an experienced astronaut who has conducted many spacewalks during previous stays aboard the ISS. On January 16, she teamed up with astronaut Nick Hague to perform maintenance on the craft. Their tasks included repairing equipment that governs station orientation, patch light filters on the NICER X-ray telescope, and replacing a reflector device on an international docking adapter.
READ MORE: Tesco Clubcard could receive major update impacting customers
READ MORE: 'We wake up hoping someone hasn't died' - on the freezing frontline of Liverpool's homeless crisis
NASA Flight Engineer Nick Hague collected the hardware necessary to remove the radio frequency group antenna assembly. He resupplied medical kits with blood tubes, needles, gloves, and more inside the Human Research Facility racks.
Flight Engineer, Butch is set to join NASA Commander Suni as she ventures out on another spacewalk tomorrow, Thursday, January 30. They are due to set their spacesuits to battery power at 8 a.m. EST (1pm UK time) on Thursday signifying the official start time of the second spacewalk of 2025.
The two NASA astronauts will exit Quest and spend about six-and-a-half hours removing radio communications hardware and searching for microbes outside the orbital outpost. NASA+ will show the spacewalk live.
In preparation for the spacewalk, the astronauts began yesterday, January 28, with routine health checks, which NASA say is "a crucial step" before any spacewalk. They monitored their vital signs, including temperature, blood pressure, and breathing rate, and then sent the data to mission control for medical review. They then moved to Quest airlock, where they organized and inspected their spacewalking gear, including tethers, pistol grip tools, and other specialized equipment.
The two retired Navy Officers were scheduled to return home in February 2025 but this will not happen as a result of problems with the SpaceX rocket that was going to pick them up. In August, Boeing insisted the astronauts are "not stuck" and Suni called the space station her "happy place".
Nasa plans to bring both astronauts back to Earth in late March aboard a spaceship built by SpaceX. They have continued their work aboard the ISS while awaiting a return home.