100th U.S. spacewalk: seventh new solar array unfurled on the ISS
Anil Menon and Joshua Kutryk spent just over seven hours installing a roll-out solar array on the ISS. Kutryk became the fifth Canadian to walk in space. The final array follows on Nov. 5.
Archive image · Photo: NASA / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (cropped and resized)
NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk installed a new roll-out solar array (IROSA) during a spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Thursday. The spacewalk began at 7:57 a.m. EDT (1157 GMT) and lasted 7 hours and 11 minutes. The array was installed on the 2A power channel and is the seventh of its kind on the station. NASA commentator Rob Navias called the spacewalk “essentially flawless,” Spaceflight Now reported.
The astronauts released the array from its storage pallet, and Menon, riding the end of the Canadarm2 robotic arm, moved it into position. The array began unfurling at around 12:21 p.m. EDT, a process that took about 10 to 12 minutes. Running ahead of schedule, the pair also completed preparatory tasks for the next spacewalk. NASA said it was U.S. spacewalk 100 and the 285th spacewalk supporting station assembly, maintenance and upgrades; it was Menon's fourth and Kutryk's first.
Kutryk is the fifth Canadian to walk in space, after Chris Hadfield, Steve MacLean, Dave Williams and David Saint-Jacques, whose spacewalk took place in April 2019. He flew to the station on SpaceX's Crew-13 mission, which launched on Oct. 1. Menon and Kutryk are scheduled to install the eighth and final new array on the 3B power channel on Nov. 5. Once all eight are installed, power generation is expected to rise from about 160 kilowatts to approximately 215 kilowatts, supporting critical operations including a safe, controlled deorbit.