“After 7 Months in Orbit, NASA Astronaut Breaks Free for Daring Spacewalk”

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — One of NASA’s two stranded astronauts experienced a much-anticipated change of environment on Thursday, embarking on her first spacewalk since arriving at the International Space Station over seven months ago.

Suni Williams, the commander of the station, had to address some overdue outdoor maintenance alongside NASA’s Nick Hague. It is planned for Williams to float back out next week with Butch Wilmore.

Williams and Wilmore launched aboard Boeing’s latest Starliner capsule last June on what was expected to be a weeklong test flight. However, issues with the Starliner delayed their return, and NASA instructed for the capsule to return empty. Subsequently, SpaceX postponed the launch of their replacements, resulting in the two not returning home until late March or early April — ten months post-launch.

This was NASA astronauts’ first spacewalk since a canceled one last summer. U.S. spacewalks were suspended following a water leak into the airlock from an astronaut’s suit cooling system. NASA has confirmed that the issue has been resolved.

This marked the eighth spacewalk for Williams, who has previously resided on the space station.

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