Originally scheduled to return to Earth in February 2025, Sunita Williams’ return has been delayed to March 2025 due to security considerations with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft
NASA astronaut Sunita Williams is ready to step outdoors the International Space Station (ISS) for her first spacewalk in over a decade. Scheduled for January 16, she will be a part of fellow astronaut Nick Hague to restore and improve the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) X-ray telescope, as a part of “US spacewalk 91.”
During this mission, the astronauts will exchange a important charge gyro meeting important for sustaining the ISS’s orientation. They will additionally examine and exchange mild filters on the NICER telescope and improve a navigation reflector on one of many station’s docking adapters. Additionally, they will assess instruments and entry factors required for future upkeep of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.
On Jan. 16, @NASA_Astronauts Nick Hague and Suni Williams will exit the area station to restore the NICER X-ray telescope. Hague, together with station astronaut Don Pettit, skilled for the spacewalk final 12 months. More… https://t.co/RKGk6DOWVe https://t.co/GpQBetjtOs
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) January 8, 2025
NICER is ready to grow to be the first NASA observatory repaired in orbit for the reason that Hubble Space Telescope’s servicing mission in 2009. The ISS shared updates on social media, confirming the importance of this restore. Sunita Williams, sporting an unmarked spacesuit, will carry out her eighth spacewalk, whereas Hague, in a go well with with pink stripes, will lead his fourth.
A second spacewalk, “US spacewalk 92,” will comply with on January 23, the place Williams will staff up with astronaut Butch Wilmore. Their duties embrace eradicating an antenna meeting, making ready a spare joint for the Canadarm2 robotic arm, and testing for microbial life on the ISS’s exterior.
Both missions are a part of NASA’s efforts to keep and improve the ISS. These spacewalks mark the 273rd and 274th carried out for the station’s maintenance.
Originally scheduled to return to Earth in February 2025, Sunita Williams’ return has been delayed to March 2025 due to security considerations with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft.
