Spacewalkers to deploy first of six new solar arrays today

The spacewalks will be the seventh and eighth for Kimbrough, and the third and fourth for Pesquet, who arrived for a six-month science mission at the space station on April 24 with NASA's SpaceX Crew-2 mission.

NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) are gearing up for Wednesday's spacewalk to install and deploy the first set of new solar arrays on the International Space Station.

The pair of spacewalkers will work on the far end of the left (port) side of the station's backbone truss structure (P6) to upgrade the 2B power channel with the installation and deployment of an ISS Roll-Out Solar Array (iROSAs). The duo will go out again on June 20 at the same time to install the second set of solar arrays.

The spacewalks will be the seventh and eighth for Kimbrough, and the third and fourth for Pesquet, who arrived for a six-month science mission at the space station on April 24 with NASA's SpaceX Crew-2 mission.

Spacewalking tomorrow! @Thom_astro and I are in final prep mode for the first of two spacewalks to install new solar arrays. We wouldn’t be able to do the job without our crewmates @Astro_Megan & @Astro_Sabot who help us get suited up and fly the robotic arm while we go outside. pic.twitter.com/vL6YevwqlX

— Shane Kimbrough (@astro_kimbrough) June 15, 2021

The new solar arrays arrived at the station in the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft as part of the company's 22nd commercial resupply services mission to the space station.

According to NASA, the existing solar arrays are functioning well, but are showing signs of degradation as they have operated beyond their designed 15-year service life. The new solar arrays will augment the existing ones and will provide more power to the station ensuring that a sufficient power supply is maintained for NASA's exploration technology demonstrations for Artemis and beyond.

Live coverage of the planned six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk will air on NASA TV, the agency's website, and the NASA app beginning June 16 at 6:30 a.m. EDT, with the crew members scheduled to set their spacesuits to battery power about 8 a.m., signifying the start of their spacewalk.