Two NASA astronauts will step outside the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday to take part in U.S. Spacewalk 93.
It will be the first all-female spacewalk since 2023 and just the fifth in NASA’s history.
Astronauts and flight engineers Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers are planning to relocate a space station communications antennae and install a mounting bracket before an additional set of solar panels are put in place, according to NASA.
MORE: Polaris Dawn astronauts complete historic 1st commercial spacewalk
The panels, known as ISS Roll Out Solar Arrays, are lightweight power sources that provide more energy than traditional solar arrays and weigh much less.
The arrays will arrive at the ISS later this year when a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft performs a commercial resupply mission and will be installed during a future spacewalk, according to NASA.
NASA says the arrays will provide power generation capability by up to 30%, increasing the ISS’s total available power from 160 kilowatts to up to 215 kilowatts.
During a press conference last week, Diana Trujillo, spacewalk flight director at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, said the antennae is being shifted a foot and a half to “clear one of the antennas from structural blockage.”
At the press conference, Bill Spetch, operations integration manager for NASA’s ISS Program, said the antennae allows the ISS to communicate with visiting vehicles.
The spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. ET and is expected to last about six-and-a-half hours, NASA said in a release. NASA will begin live coverage at 6:30 a.m. ET on NASA+.
MORE: Elon Musk calls for deorbiting of the ISS. Here’s what the space station does
This is the third spacewalk for McClain and the first for Ayers. During the spacewalk, McClain will be wearing a suit with red stripes and Ayers will be wearing an unmarked suit, NASA said.
Trujillo said McClain and Ayers will be assisted by two other astronauts onboard the ISS, who will get them into and out of their spacesuits.
“In addition to that, on Earth, we will have a team of specialists that will be following everything on the spacewalk itself, all the details of what we are executing,” Trujillo said.
The spacesuits used for spacewalks are filled with oxygen and the astronauts breathe in pure oxygen for several hours to get rid of nitrogen in their bodies. Nitrogen can lead to gas bubbles and cause pain, according to NASA.
McClain and Ayers will be tethered to the spacecraft to prevent them from floating into space.
On Wednesday, NASA said the pair are finalizing preparations, including staging their spacesuits and organizing their spacewalking tools. They also underwent a pre-spacewalk health check.
According to NASA, this will be the 275th spacewalk “in support of space station assembly, maintenance and upgrades.”
Spetch also noted at the press conference that this November will mark 25 years of continuous human presence aboard the ISS.
NASA astronauts prepare for 5th-ever all-female spacewalk originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
