Anil Menon and Joshua Kutryk are preparing for an October 29 spacewalk to install solar-array hardware on the International Space Station. Mission managers have approved the operation, which is expected to take about six hours and forty-five minutes. The work combines an outside installation with robotic-arm support and later electrical activation from the ground.
Mission managers have cleared Anil Menon of NASA and Joshua Kutryk of the Canadian Space Agency for a planned October 29 spacewalk. The astronauts are to install solar-array hardware on the International Space Station’s port-side truss. NASA expects the outside work to last about six hours and forty-five minutes. The operation is still ahead at the time of this update.[1], [2]
The plan starts with releasing the assembly from a temporary stowage platform. Menon will carry it while riding the Canadarm2 robotic arm; Kutryk will move along the station on safety tethers and join him for installation. Crew members inside the station will operate the arm and monitor the spacewalkers. Ground controllers are responsible for electrical activation after the array is installed.[1]
Menon and Kutryk reviewed procedures and inspected suit life-support and communications equipment on October 28. Four astronauts joined the final conferences with ground and robotics specialists. The solar-array work is part of a wider station power upgrade. Successful installation and subsequent activation will need confirmation after the planned operation.[1]
