NASA Announces Exciting Preview and Coverage of Upcoming Spacewalk Extravaganza!

WASHINGTON, Jan. 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Two NASA astronauts are set to conduct spacewalks outside the International Space Station, performing U.S. spacewalk 91 on Thursday, Jan. 16, followed by U.S. spacewalk 92 on Thursday, Jan. 23, to finalize upgrades to the station.

Nasa will also elaborate on the upcoming spacewalks during a press conference at 2 p.m. EST Friday, Jan. 10, on NASA+ from their Johnson Space Center located in Houston. Find out how to watch NASA content across diverse platforms, including social media.

Participants in the press conference from NASA Johnson include:

• Bill Spetch, operations integration manager
• Nicole McElroy, flight director for spacewalks

Media representatives interested in attending either in person or via phone must reach out to the NASA Johnson newsroom by 10 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 8, at: 281-483-5111 or [email protected]. To pose questions, media must connect no less than 15 minutes prior to the start of the press conference. A copy of NASA’s media accreditation policy can be found online. Questions may also be posed on social media using #AskNASA.

The initial spacewalk is projected to commence at 7 a.m. on Jan. 16, and will last approximately six and a half hours. NASA will broadcast live coverage starting at 5:30 a.m. on NASA+.

Nasa astronauts Nick Hague and Suni Williams will replace a rate gyro assembly that assists with orientation control for the station, install patches to cover damaged regions of light filters for an X-ray telescope known as NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer), and swap out a reflector device used for navigational information on one of the international docking adapters. Furthermore, the crew will inspect access zones and connector tools that will facilitate future maintenance tasks on the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.

Hague will assume the role of spacewalk crew member 1 and don a suit with red stripes. Williams will take on the role of spacewalk crew member 2 and will wear a plain suit. This will mark the fourth spacewalk for Hague and the eighth for Williams. It will represent the 273rd spacewalk in support of the assembly, maintenance, and upgrades of the space station.

The subsequent spacewalk is set to begin at 7 a.m. on Jan. 23, and will last around six and a half hours. NASA will provide live coverage commencing at 5:30 a.m. on NASA+.

The astronauts will detach a radio frequency group antenna assembly from the station’s structure, gather samples of surface material for analysis from the Destiny laboratory and the Quest airlock to determine if microorganisms might be present on the exterior of the orbital complex, and prepare a spare elbow joint for the Canadarm2 robotic arm should it be necessary for a replacement.

After completing U.S. spacewalk 91, NASA will announce the crew members participating in U.S. spacewalk 92. This will be the 274th spacewalk in support of ongoing assembly, maintenance, and upgrades of the space station.

Discover more about research and operations of the International Space Station at:

https://www.nasa.gov/station

SOURCE NASA