Skip to main content

NASA shares video clips from Thursday’s successful spacewalk

NASA astronauts Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio successfully completed a spacewalk at the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, December 22.

The walk was supposed to take place a day earlier, but NASA opted to delay the start after rocket debris was spotted close to the station, prompting controllers on the ground to maneuver the ISS to a safer orbit.

Recommended Videos

Cassada and Rubio, both on their their third spacewalk, finished their work at 3:27 p.m. ET after spending 7 hours and 8 minutes outside the station.

The pair completed the main tasks, which included the installation of an ISS Roll-Out Solar Array (iROSA) on the 4A power channel on the port truss.

The iROSAs will boost the station’s power generation capability by up to 30%, increasing the station’s total available power from 160 kilowatts to up to 215 kilowatts.

NASA livestreamed the entirety of the spacewalk, which included footage from multiple cameras; audio from Cassada, Rubio, and controllers on the ground; and a commentary enabling viewers to better understand everything that was happening. The video is now available on NASA’s YouTube channel.

The space agency also shared several short clips on Twitter showing the two astronauts at work some 250 miles above Earth.

About an hour into the spacewalk, Cassada is working to release the anti-rotation devices on the iROSA that are holding it in place. Rubio is securing power cables that will be connected once the iROSA is in place and making sure the soft-capture system is ready for its arrival. pic.twitter.com/5l4hnbjggL

— International Space Station (@Space_Station) December 22, 2022

Earth views as Rubio on the right and Cassada on the left are seen working together to release iROSA from it’s holding location so that they can relocate it for installation, with the @csa_asc #Canadarm2 seen above! 🔧🌍🦾 pic.twitter.com/kMhrVOeD8x

— International Space Station (@Space_Station) December 22, 2022

And here’s a clip for fans of slow TV, showing one of the new solar arrays unfurling:

A new solar array, just installed by astronauts Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio, is now being unrolled outside the @Space_Station. This is the fourth of six new solar arrays planned for the station, which will increase its power generation capability by 30% once complete. pic.twitter.com/v6Oad5aV0P

— NASA (@NASA) December 22, 2022

Thursday’s walk came during a challenging period for the space station after a docked Soyuz spacecraft recently sprung a leak, with coolant from the crew capsule spraying into space. Engineers are continuing to evaluate the situation to determine if a new spacecraft needs to be sent to the station as a capsule is needed by three ISS inhabitants for a ride home in March.

Fancy learning more about how astronauts work, rest, and play aboard the International Space Station? Digital Trends has you covered.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
New ISS astronaut meets Bumble, Honey, and Queen robots
NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers aboard the ISS.

On her first visit to orbit, NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers has just introduced herself to three robots stationed aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

“We hit the ground running (or floating??) here on the space station,” Ayers, who arrived at the ISS just over a week ago, wrote in a post on X. “In addition to data collection for one of the studies, I got to help load some software onto the Astrobees. This is Bumble!”

Read more
Cool space video shows star trails stretching over city lights
A screen grab from a video showing star trails stretching over city lights on Earth.

NASA astronaut Don Pettit dazzled us on Tuesday with a gorgeous image showing star trails and city lights as seen from the International Space Station (ISS).

On Wednesday, he turned the "wow" dial all the way up to 11 by sharing a video clip from which Tuesday’s image was taken.

Read more
NASA reveals new launch plan for SpaceX’s Crew-10 — here’s how to watch
The crew of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission.

[UPDATE: SpaceX and NASA scrubbed Wednesday's launch attempt due to a technical issue on the ground. The article below has been updated to include details on the new launch target.]

SpaceX and NASA called off the launch of Crew-10 to the space station on Wednesday evening. They're now targeting 7:03 p.m. ET on Friday, March 14, for the launch of Crew-10 from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Read on for full details on how to watch a livestream of the event.

Read more