NASA Television coverage of today’s spacewalk with NASA astronaut Steve Bowen and UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi now is underway and also is available on the NASA app, the space station blog and the agency’s website.
The two Expedition 69 crew members are preparing to exit the International Space Station‘s Quest airlock for a spacewalk expected to begin at about 9:15 a.m. EDT and last approximately six-and-a-half-hours.
Bowen and Alneyadi will prepare for future installation of upgraded solar arrays on the starboard side of the station’s truss. The astronauts will then retrieve S-band antenna equipment and bring it inside the space station for refurbishment.
The spacewalk is part of a series to augment the station’s power channels with new International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs). Four of the new arrays have been installed so far, and two additional arrays will be mounted to the installed platforms during future spacewalks following their arrival this year on SpaceX’s 28th commercial resupply services mission for NASA.
Bowen will serve as extravehicular crew member 1 (EV 1) and will wear a suit with red stripes. Alneyadi will serve as extravehicular crew member 2 (EV 2) and will wear an unmarked suit. U.S. spacewalk 86 will be the eighth spacewalk for Bowen and the first for any UAE astronaut.
Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.
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