Two spacewalkers are installing a new solar array on the ISS today - Digital Trends

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Two NASA astronauts are presently connected a spacewalk, moving extracurricular the International Space Station to instal a caller star array arsenic portion of a long-term project to upgrade the station’s powerfulness systems. The spacewalk is being livestreamed, truthful you tin ticker unrecorded utilizing the video beneath oregon drawback up afterwards if you missed watching it live.

Spacewalk with NASA Astronauts Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio

NASA astronauts Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio are moving to instal a caller star array called an International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array oregon iROSA. They volition beryllium moving implicit a play of astir 7 hours to instal the array to a enactment operation which was installed connected a erstwhile spacewalk.

Astronaut Josh Cassada is pictured during a spacewalk connected Nov. 15, 2022, to acceptable the abstraction presumption for aboriginal rollout star array installation work.

The purpose of the upgrades is to boost the station’s powerfulness systems by supplementing its aged star arrays. The erstwhile star arrays, which are ample panels successful pairs which jut retired from the presumption to cod vigor from the sun, are up to 20 years aged and hence past their 15-year work life. The aged panels won’t beryllium removed though, arsenic they bash inactive enactment to make powerfulness — they are conscionable not arsenic businesslike arsenic they utilized to be.

The caller arrays, which are smaller than the aged arrays but inactive make arsenic overmuch powerfulness owed to improvements successful the technology, volition beryllium placed connected apical of the aged panels astatine an offset truthful that some aged and caller tin enactment together. One the iROSAs are installed, they unfurl to their full 60-foot length and are acceptable for usage to cod vigor for the powerfulness system.

As good arsenic installing an iROSA today, the spacewalkers volition besides beryllium performing immoderate different attraction tasks similar disconnecting a cablegram truthful that 1 of powerfulness channels tin beryllium reactivated. The transmission had been unopen down “due to a powerfulness travel successful its electrical system,” NASA said successful an update. “The disconnection of the cablegram volition isolate the affected information of the array and reconstruct the transmission to 75% of its mean operating capacity.”

If you’re watching the video of the spacewalk and wondering who is who, past you tin archer the quality betwixt the 2 astronauts arsenic Cassada is wearing a spacesuit with reddish stripes and Rubio is wearing a plain achromatic spacesuit.