After six hours and 41 minutes, both astronauts Nicole Mann and Koichi Wakata concluded their spacewalkers. Nicole Mann is an astronaut at NASA. And Koichi Wakata is an astronaut at Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Mann and Wakata were able to finish the construction of a mountain platform to upgrade Station Power.
What is the purpose of the spacewalkers?
Both astronauts successfully were able to complete their primary goal. The goal was to complete the construction of a mountain platform on the 1A Station power channel. This began during a spacewalk on Jan. 20.
Moreover, they were able to install cables for the next pair of International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs). And they also moved an articulating portable foot restraint from the P6 truss for future spacewalk tasks
Did Mann and Wakata achieve their Station Power mission?
The installation of the iROSAs was also one of the primary goals of a series of spacewalks. Right now only four iROSAs have fit accordingly on Station Power. And only two are left. Thus, they will be attached to the existing platforms during future spacewalks after their arrival later this year on SpaceX’s 28th commercial resupply services mission for NASA.
It was the 259th spacewalk and the second spacewalkers for both astronauts. The primary goal was to support space station assembly, upgrades, and maintenance.
Mann and Wakata are currently on a six-month science mission aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions, including to the Moon via NASA’s Artemis missions.
