posted 08-05-2026 04:50 PM               

ISS Expedition 75: U.S. Spacewalk 96

NASA astronauts will perform a spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026.

Expedition 75 crewmates Jessica Meir and Anil Menon will exit the Quest airlock to install hardware that will modify the station's 3B power channel and prepare it for the future installation of an International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array (IROSA). The solar array, scheduled for delivery later this year, will be the seventh IROSA and will provide additional power to support critical station operations, including its safe and controlled deorbit.

This spacewalk will be the sixth for Meir and the first for Menon. Meir will serve as spacewalk crew member 1 and will wear a suit with red stripes. Menon will serve as crew member 2 and will wear an unmarked suit. It will be the 281st spacewalk in support of space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.

posted 08-06-2026 07:01 AM               

At about 8:35 a.m. EDT (1235 UTC) on Aug. 6, 2026, NASA astronauts Anil Menon and Jessica Meir will venture outside the International Space Station for an approximately six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk.

posted 08-06-2026 02:39 PM               

Astronauts install solar array mod kit hardware

Jessica Meir and Anil Menon on Thursday (Aug. 6), assembled the modification kit for one of the space station's eight power channels, which will allow for the future addition of a new ISS Rolll-Out Solar Array (iROSA). The two worked to assemble and bolt together the triangular brackets on the 3B power channel, located on the far right, or starboard (S6) segment of the station's backbone truss.

Menon was positioned on an articulating portable foot restraint (APFR) atop a worksite interface (WIFEX), providing a stable angle to work from the truss.

Once the modification kit structure was built and secured to the 3B mast canister, the two spacewalkers routed cabling that will route the electricity from the future iROSA into the 3B power channel and then covered the struts with multi-layer insulation to protect them from micrometeoroid strikes.

Thursday's spacewalk began at 8:33 a.m. EDT (1233 GMT) when Meir and Menon switched their spacesuits to internal battery power. After collecting their tools and reentering the Quest airlock, the spacewalk, or extravehicular activity (EVA), concluded at 3:00 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT), 6 hours and 27 minutes after it began.

This as the 96th U.S. EVA and 281st spacewalk overall in support of the International Space Station's assembly, maintenance and upgrades. It was the first career spacewalk for Menon and sixth for Meir, bringing her total time on EVA to 42 hours and 33 minutes.