posted 05-01-2025 01:12 AM               

ISS Expedition 73: U.S. Spacewalk 93

NASA astronauts will perform a spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Thursday (May 1).

Expedition 73 crewmates Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers will exit the Quest airlock to relocate a space station communications antenna and install a mounting bracket ahead of the addition of another set of International Space Station Rollout Solar Arrays, also called IROSA.

The spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT) and last about six and a half hours.

The new arrays will boost electricity generation capability by up to 30 percent, increasing the station's total available power from 160 kilowatts to up to 215 kilowatts. The arrays will be installed on a future spacewalk following their arrival on a SpaceX Dragon commercial resupply services mission later this year.

McClain will serve as EV-1 and wear an extravehicular mobility unit (EMU) suit with red stripes. Ayers will serve as EV-2 and will wear an unmarked suit. This will be the third spacewalk for McClain and the first for Ayers.

U.S. spacewalk 93 will be the 275th EVA in support of the assembly, maintenance and upgrade of the International Space Station.

posted 05-01-2025 01:15 AM               

NASA coverage of US spacewalk 93 at the International Space Station is scheduled to begin on Thursday (May 1) at 6:30 a.m. EDT (1030 GMT). The spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT) and last about six and a half hours.

posted 05-01-2025 01:59 PM               

Astronauts relocate antenna, leave array mounting kit to be completed

Expedition 73 crewmates Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers competed an 5-hour, 44-minute extravehicular activity (EVA, or spacewalk) at 2:49 p.m. EDT (1849 GMT) on Thursday (May 1), after they reentered the Quest airlock and it began to be re-pressurized.

McClain and Ayers were successful in accomplishing most of what they had set out achieve, but running late on their timeline and with limited consumables, they had to defer some of the tasks to a later spacewalk.

Getting started at 9:05 a.m. EDT (1305 GMT), the two women carried tools and equipment out to the port (or left) side of the space station's backbone truss, where they got to work assembling the attachment hardware for a the seventh pair of International Space Station Rollout Solar Arrays, or IROSA.

McClain and Ayers built and mounted the upper triangle of the mast canister modification kit, as well as the right struts, but then were instructed to clean up their workstations and move on to the next, higher priority task.

After stowing their equipment and McClain repositioning a foot restraint, she and Ayers met at the P3 truss segment, also on the left side of station. There they relocated an antenna used by Northrop Grumman's Cygnus cargo vehicles when come to resupply the space station.

With the limited time remaining in the EVA, the astronauts wrapped up their work by tackling a couple of "get ahead" tasks. While Ayers attempted attaching a jumper cable to convert DC power from the U.S. operating segment's P6 truss to the Russian segment of the space station, McClain worked on releasing bolts on a micro-meteoroid debris cover to prep it for future work. Ultimately, Ayers packed up the cable and brought it back inside the orbiting laboratory.

This spacewalk was McClain's third and the first for Ayers. McClain has now logged a total of 18 hours and 52 minutes outside the space station.