NASA astronauts Anil Menon, Jessica Meir undertake spacewalk to upgrade space station
NASA astronauts Anil Menon and Jessica Meir completed a six-hour spacewalk to install hardware for future solar array upgrades on the International Space Station. This mission is the first of three scheduled for the Expedition 75 crew this month.
Why it matters
Maintaining the ISS power infrastructure is essential for the continued operation of the laboratory and its eventual controlled deorbit.
NASA astronauts Anil Menon and Jessica Meir on Friday (August 6, 2026) concluded their spacewalk outside the International Space Station to assemble the modification kit for its power channel that would allow addition of solar arrays.
The spacewalk – 281st in support of the space station – sixth for Ms. Meir and first for Mr. Menon began at 8.33 a.m. EDT (6.03 p.m. IST) on Thursday (August 5, 2026) and concluded at 3 p.m. EDT (12.30 a.m. IST Friday).
Mr. Menon and Ms. Meir exited the Quest airlock and carried out structural upgrades on the exterior of the orbital laboratory during the six-hour, 27-minute spacewalk.
Their primary objective centred on installing mounting hardware on the station’s 3B power channel, located on the Starboard 6 truss segment.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in