Preps for new solar array completeJessica Meir and Chris Williams on Wednesday (March 18) ventured outside of the space station's Quest airlock at 8:52 a.m. EDT (1252 GMT). The pair worked on the left (or port) side of the space station's backbone truss, where they first assembled and then attached the bracket structure that will support an ISS Roll-Out Array (iROSA), to be installed on a future spacewalk.
Once unfurled, it will be the seventh of eight rollout arrays to be deployed since the upgrades began in 2021.
After completing work on the iROSA modification kit about five hours into the EVA, Williams moved over to photo document the gears for the port-side SARJ, or solar array rotating joint, that allows the attached wings to track the sun. Meir concurrently worked on installing an electrical jumper to enable robotic servicing of the components that comprise he 2A power channel.
Meir and Williams then cleaned up their respective work areas and stowed equipment they had used before reentering the Quest airlock.
Citing the limited time remaining — the spacewalk had been planned to last about six and half hours — EVA managers in Mission Control deferred the swabbing for microorganisms on the exterior of the space station and the installation of a lens cover on a camera on the Canadarm2 robotic arm for a future outing. Neither of the two tasks was considered mission critical.
Wednesday's spacewalk ended at 3:54 p.m. EDT (1954 GMT), 7 hours and 2 minutes after it began.
"Today, March 18, is exactly 61 years since Alexei Leonov became the very first human to step out boldly into the vacuum and blackness of space. Our international efforts in space exploration have evolved considerably since then, but the enormity of venturing outside the hatch in your own mini-spacecraft remains," said Meir after closing the hatch.
"I can report that my fourth spacewalk feels even more special than my previous ones. That is because I shared the experience with first-time spacewalker Chris Williams. It is a tremendous experience to pass the torch to the next generation of explorers who will keep this space station running," she said.
"Leonov said he felt like a grain of sand in the universe, a perspective one gains from the privilege of looking down on Earth from above like we did today. Like grains of sand, at least we are here drifting together. The view is always better when you are sharing it with a friend," concluded Meir.
Wednesday's spacewalk was the 278th EVA in support of the assembly, maintenance and upgrade of the International Space Station, totaling 1,760 hours and 28 minutes. It was also the first ISS spacewalk of 2026, and the first by Expedition 74.
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