ISS Expedition 69: U.S. Spacewalk 86Two crew members living aboard the International Space Station will conduct a spacewalk Friday (April 28), to continue installation of hardware to support future power system upgrades.
NASA astronaut Steve Bowen and UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi will exit the station's Quest airlock at about 9:15 a.m. EDT (1315 GMT) to prepare for future installation of upgraded solar arrays on the starboard side of the station's truss. The astronauts will then retrieve S-band antenna equipment and bring it inside the space station for refurbishment.
The spacewalk is part of a series to augment the station's power channels with new International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs). Four of the new arrays have been installed so far, and two additional arrays will be mounted to the installed platforms during future spacewalks following their arrival this year on SpaceX's 28th commercial resupply services mission for NASA.
Bowen will serve as extravehicular crew member 1 (EV 1) and will wear a suit with red stripes. AlNeyadi will serve as EV 2 and will wear an unmarked suit. U.S. spacewalk 86 will be the eighth spacewalk for Bowen and the first for any UAE astronaut.