by NASA astronauts Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio successfully completed a spacewalk aboard the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, December 22.
The march was supposed to take place the day before, but NASA chose to delay takeoff after rocket debris was detected near the station, causing ground controllers to maneuver the ISS into a safer orbit.
Cassada and Rubio, both on their third spacewalk, finished their work at 3:27 PM ET after spending 7 hours and 8 minutes outside the station.
The duo completed main missions that included the installation of an ISS Roll-Out Solar Array (iROSA) in the 4A power channel in the port beam.
iROSAs will increase the station’s power generation capacity by up to 30% and increase the station’s total usable power from 160 kilowatts to 215 kilowatts.
NASA live-streamed the entire spacewalk, which included images from multiple cameras; Audio from Cassada, Rubio and controllers on the ground; and a commentary that allows viewers to better understand everything that is going on. The video is now available on NASA’s YouTube channel.
The space agency also shared a few short clips on Twitter showing the two astronauts working about 250 miles above Earth.
Here’s a clip of one of the new solar panels unveiling for slow TV fans:
Thursday’s march comes at a tumultuous time for the space station after a docked Soyuz spacecraft recently leaked a leak as coolant from the crew capsule blasted into space. Engineers continue to evaluate the situation to determine whether a new spacecraft should be sent to the station as a capsule that three ISS residents need to get home in March.
Want to learn more about how astronauts work, rest and play on the International Space Station? Digital Trends has you covered.
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