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Sunita Williams to perform two spacewalks on THESE dates, NASA shares major update
- Astronaut Sunita Williams will perform two spacewalks next week, one with Nick Hague and another with Butch Wilmore. NASA has shared major update on the upcoming spacewalks.
Astronauts Sunita Williams is set to undertake two spacewalks withing two weeks time. In a statement issued by NASA, Sunita Williams will venture outside the International Space Station (ISS) along with Nick Hague to conduct spacewalk on January 16 to complete station upgrades. In addition to this, another station update will be done on January 23 where Williams will again take part in another spacewalk, now along with Butch Wilmore.
As per the US space agency, the first spacewalk is named US spacewalk 91 while the second spacewalk on January 23 is named as US spacewalk 92.
Details on Spacewalks
NASA said that the first spacewalk scheduled will begin at 8 a.m. and last for about six and a half hours while second is scheduled to begin at 7:15 a.m. and last about six and a half hours
During the 1st spacewalk, as per NASA, “NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Suni Williams will replace a rate gyro assembly that helps provide orientation control for the station, install patches to cover damaged areas of light filters for an X-ray telescope called NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer), and replace a reflector device used for navigational data on one of the international docking adapters." Additionally, the US space agency added that, "the pair will check access areas and connector tools that will be used for future maintenance work on the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.” This will also be Hague's fouth spacewalk and and eighth for Williams.
Speaking on the 2nd spacewalk, NASA said, “Butch and Williams will remove a radio frequency group antenna assembly from the station’s truss, collect samples of surface material for analysis from the Destiny laboratory and the Quest airlock to see whether microorganisms may exist on the exterior of the orbital complex, and prepare a spare elbow joint for the Canadarm2 robotic arm in the event it is needed for a replacement.”
When was Sunita Williams' last spacewalk?
The last spacewalk by Williams was in 2012. As per NASA's record, during an expedition from July 14 to November 18, 2012, Williams and Akihiko Hoshide performed three spacewalks to replace a component that relays power from the space station’s solar arrays to its systems, and repair an ammonia leak on a station radiator. She once held a record of total cumulative spacewalk time by a female astronaut which was 50 hours and 40 minutes. However, according to a report by Britannica, in 2017, American astronaut Peggy Whitson broke that record by completing 10 spacewalks, totaling over 60 hours.
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Business NewsScienceNewsSunita Williams to perform two spacewalks on THESE dates, NASA shares major update
First Published:12 Jan 2025, 09:14 AM IST
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