Astronauts upgrade International Space Station power system
NASA and Canadian Space Agency astronauts completed a seven-hour spacewalk to upgrade the International Space Station power system.
Menon and Kutryk installed a new solar array on the station during their mission outside the orbiting laboratory. This seventh addition provides extra electricity for essential operations and future safe deorbiting of the structure.
The crew stopped their activities at 3:08 p.m. EDT after performing several preliminary tasks to get ready for the next mission scheduled soon.
That upcoming walk will happen on Thursday, Nov. 5 to place the final array on the 3B power channel.
Once the final array is installed, the solar power expansion will be complete for the International Space Station. The eight new arrays will increase available power by as much as 30% for the facility. Electricity generation capacity will rise from 160 kilowatts to approximately 215 kilowatts.
The finished mission designated U.S. spacewalk 100 marked Menon fourth spacewalk and Kutryk first spacewalk. It served as the 285th walk to help maintain and improve the International Space Station over its lifetime. This milestone supports ongoing assembly and maintenance efforts for the orbiting lab.