NASA’s latest spacewalk ended successfully at the International Space Station (ISS) shortly after noon ET on Thursday, December 2.
American astronauts Thomas Marshburn and Kayla Barron spent a total of 6 hours and 32 minutes outside the station.
The pair installed an antenna on the outside of the ISS before stowing the malfunctioning one.
The new piece of kit will improve the reliability of communications between the space station and controllers on Earth.
This was Marshburn’s fifth spacewalk across three missions since 2009, and the first for Barron.
“Space station crew members have now spent a total of 64 days, 12 hours, and 26 minutes working outside the station conducting 245 spacewalks in support of assembly and maintenance of the orbiting laboratory,” NASA said on Thursday.
The space agency posted a number of video clips from the spacewalk, which we’ve embedded below. Be sure to turn up the volume so you can hear the communications between the astronauts and Mission Control.
First up we see the two astronauts closing the hatch cover having just emerged from the station at the start of the spacewalk.
In the next clip, NASA offers a brief overview of the spacewalk, while the camera looks up at Marshburn who’s working while attached to the tip of the Canadarm robotic arm.
.@AstroMarshburn is at the tip of the @CSA_ASC #Canadarm2 retrieving hardware to swap out a faulty antenna system right now. https://t.co/yuOTrYN8CV pic.twitter.com/TLCHuqWamj
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) December 2, 2021
Below we can see Marshburn and Barron removing the failed S-band antenna from the ISS.
✅ Task complete! @AstroMarshburn and Kayla Barron successfully removed a failed S-band antenna from the @Space_Station's P-1 truss. Next, they'll stow it and retrieve the spare antenna for installation. pic.twitter.com/PuTApMCNIs
— NASA (@NASA) December 2, 2021
This clip shows Kayla Barron at the stowing location for the faulty antenna.
Kayla Barron is at the ELC-3, or External Logistics Carrier-3, where the spare antenna system is and where the faulty antenna system will be stowed. https://t.co/yuOTrYN8CV pic.twitter.com/PLteuorpPZ
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) December 2, 2021
During the spacewalk, NASA answered a viewer’s question about whether astronauts are constantly connected to the space station during a spacewalk.
.@sunlightbeau wants to know if the spacewalkers are always connected by hooks to the station? #AskNASA | https://t.co/yuOTrYN8CV pic.twitter.com/DWRUUczKgV
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) December 2, 2021
Here we can see Marshburn catching a ride on the Canadarm to the right of the picture, which cuts to the view from his helmet camera.
🤩 What a view! @AstroMarshburn catches a ride on the Canadarm2 robotic arm to move around the @Space_Station during today's spacewalk: pic.twitter.com/J3tO3CP6Uk
— NASA (@NASA) December 2, 2021
A spacewalker’s view of Earth 250 miles below.
POV: You’re tethered to the @Space_Station orbiting above your home planet. pic.twitter.com/cWTE0pU2qc
— NASA (@NASA) December 2, 2021
After more than six hours working outside the ISS, the two astronauts return to the interior of the station, with Barron describing her very first spacewalk as “awesome.”
“It was awesome!” Astronauts Kayla Barron and @AstroMarshburn concluded today’s spacewalk at 12:47pm ET (17:47 UTC). The duo replaced a faulty antenna and did some get-ahead tasks for future spacewalks: https://t.co/oKOxFXzoic pic.twitter.com/OLxgF7gTVn
— NASA (@NASA) December 2, 2021
Interested in seeing some of the very best spacewalk photos from over the years? Then take a moment to check out this remarkable collection.
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