UPDATE: The spacewalk has finished. You can read a report about it here.
It’s a busy time for spacewalks at the International Space Station (ISS) right now, with the crew currently preparing for the third such outing in two weeks.
Set for Saturday, March 13, the extravehicular activity (EVA) will be conducted by NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Michael Hopkins.
This will be the pair’s third spacewalk together, and the sixth of the current Expedition 64.
Expected to last around six-and-a-half hours, the spacewalk will see Glover and Hopkins carry out a range of work, including replacing a wireless communications antenna on the Unity module, and completing cable connections on the Bartolomeo external payload facility located on Europe’s Columbus laboratory module.
Other tasks include installing a “stiffener” on the Quest airlock thermal cover to stop it from blowing out when residual atmosphere escapes as the hatch is opened, and routing high-definition video camera cables.
This will be Hopkins’ fifth spacewalk in his career and comes eight years after his debut walk in 2013. Glover will be embarking on his fourth EVA, all of which have taken place during the current expedition. In his first spacewalk on January 27, 2021, a video captured the moment he jettisoned a decommissioned part of the ISS into space.
How to watch
Glover and Hopkins will exit the ISS at around 4:30 a.m. PT, though coverage will begin when the final preparations get underway at 3 a.m. PT. If that sounds a bit early for folks on the West Coast or in other parts of the world, keep in mind that the walk will last for more than six hours, so you’ll have plenty of time to drop by to see what the astronauts are up to.
Multiple cameras will cover the EVA, some fixed to the exterior of the ISS, others attached to the astronauts themselves. Live audio feeds of conversations between the astronauts and Mission Control will also form part of the coverage, while a NASA commentator will explain what the astronauts are up to as they carry out their work.
You can watch the spacewalk via the embedded player at the top of this page, which links straight to NASA’s live feed.
To get you warmed up for Saturday, take a moment to enjoy this collection of breathtaking photographs captured during various spacewalks over the years.
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