US EVA-86: The degraded S-band antenna and comms unit has been in storage since December 2021 when astronauts Tom Marshburn and Kayla Barron replaced it with a spare; Bowen and Alneyadi now plan to bring it inside so it can be returned to Earth, refurbished and relaunchedUS EVA-86: The IROSA prep work involves relocating a foot restraint, stowing cables, completing power channel 1B cable routing and checking insulation around the already-installed mod kits that will support the 1A and 1B IROSAsUS EVA-86: Spacesuits switched to battery power at 9:11am EDT (1311 UTC), officially starting today's spacewalk; for ID, Bowen, call sign EV-1, is wearing a suit with red stripes and using helmet camera 22; Alneyadi, EV-2, is wearing an unmarked suit and using helmetcam 20
US EVA-86 (PET: 0:28): Alneyadi has now egressed the airlock after double-checking safety tether configs and passing out tool bags to Bowen; the IROSA prep work is first on the agenda, then the S-band antenna retrieval
Astronauts Begin Spacewalk to Upgrade Station PowerNASA astronaut Steve Bowen and UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi began a spacewalk at 9:11 a.m. EDT to prepare for future installation of upgraded solar arrays on the starboard side of the station’s truss. The astronauts will then retrieve S-band antenna equipment and bring it inside the space station for refurbishment.The spacewalk is part of a series to augment the station’s power channels with new International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs). Four of the new arrays have been installed so far, and two additional arrays will be mounted to the installed platforms during future spacewalks following their arrival this year on SpaceX’s 28th commercial resupply services mission for NASA.Bowen serves as extravehicular crew member 1 (EV 1) and is wearing a suit with red stripes. Alneyadi serves as extravehicular crew member 2 (EV 2) and is wearing an unmarked suit. U.S. spacewalk 86 is the eighth spacewalk for Bowen and the first for any UAE astronaut.Coverage of the spacewalk continues on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.Get weekly video highlights at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videupdate/Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here: www.nasa.gov/subscribeAuthor Mark GarciaPosted on April 28, 2023Categories Expedition 69Tags Canadian Space Agency, European Space Agency, International Space Station, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA, MBR Space Centre, NASA, Roscosmos, spacewalk, United Arab Emirates
Astronauts (from left) Stephen Bowen and Sultan Alneyadi try on and test out the their spacesuits ahead of a spacewalk planned for Friday, April 28.