NASA Plans Three August Spacewalks

NASA will conduct three spacewalks outside the International Space Station in August to upgrade its solar power system, replace communications equipment and support future station operations. The agency will preview the activities during a news conference at 2 p.m. EDT on July 30 from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The first spacewalk is scheduled for Aug. 6, when astronauts Jessica Meir and Anil Menon will install hardware to modify the station’s 3B power channel. The work will prepare the orbiting laboratory for the future installation of a seventh International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array, which is intended to provide additional power for station operations.

NASA said coverage of the Aug. 6 spacewalk will begin at 6:30 a.m., with the excursion expected to start at 8 a.m. and last approximately six and a half hours. It will be Meir’s sixth spacewalk and Menon’s first.

The second spacewalk, planned for Aug. 13, will replace a space-to-ground antenna used for communications between the station and NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston. During the Aug. 25 operation, astronauts will connect power and data cables and replace a navigation aid used for spacecraft docking on the Harmony module.

NASA said additional details about the final two spacewalks, including crew assignments and coverage schedules, will be released closer to the missions. The three excursions will be the 281st, 282nd and 283rd spacewalks conducted in support of space station assembly, maintenance and upgrades.