Two NASA astronauts completed the first spacewalk together outside the International Space Station, the fourth extravehicular activity for women in history. The extravehicular activity they performed was activity No. 269 to support the assembly, maintenance, and modernization of the International Space Station. It is also a spacewalk. The ISS’s 12th launch of the year and the second during Expedition 70, according to a Space Station report.
Expedition 70 crew astronauts Yasmine Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara spent 6 hours and 42 minutes maintaining the station, replacing the bearing to keep the solar arrays on the International Space Station (ISS) rotating properly and performing other maintenance activities.
Moghbeli and O’Hara converted their spacesuits to battery power on November 1, marking the official start of extravehicular activity. After exiting the US Quest airlock and configuring their harnesses and instruments, the two astronauts went their separate ways to handle their first scheduled missions.
Moghbeli first focused on removing the handling equipment, paving the way for the future installation of an additional deployable solar array on the International Space Station (iROSA). The additional array, along with five previous extended arrays, will increase the station’s power supply to support expanded commercial activities at the orbital outpost.
Moghbeli also documented the location where the new iROSA wing will be added, and in the meantime, O’Hara has begun work to begin replacing one of 12 rolling bearing assemblies on the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ) on the port (or left) side of the station’s spine strut.
She pulled out the insulating blankets covering the sprocket race ring on which the bearings operate, and upon inspection, reported seeing no metal shavings or damage resulting from the outgoing assembly.
The slewing bearing did not release as easily as expected, and O’Hara, with Moghbeli’s assistance, experienced delays in loosening the bolts holding the deteriorated slewing bearing in place, although this was finally resolved, leaving Moghbeli and O’Hara about an hour behind schedule.
After removing the old bearing, Moghbeli set about straightening an Ethernet cable to provide data transmission for an external camera while O’Hara worked with a microgravity grease gun to lubricate the racing ring before installing the spare bearing.
I then switched to a pistol grip tool, which is a space drill specifically designed to secure the replacement unit’s screws, which went in without a problem.
The two astronauts then moved on to get what work they could do in the remaining available time to prepare an electronics box, called a radio frequency array (RFG), for removal.
The mission itself proved troublesome during a previous extravehicular activity (EVA) conducted by NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen and Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi in April 2023.
The original plan for Wednesday’s spacewalk called for Moghbeli to attach a footrest to the end of the station’s Canadarm 2 robotic arm and then use it to ride to where the S-band radio frequency array box was located on the right side of the truss. Mission Control directed Moghbeli to abandon the use of the robotic arm and head to the work site.
Toward the end of the spacewalk, O’Hara stated that her communications holder (or “Snoopy hat”) was slipping over her forehead, but not obstructing her vision, and with her tasks completed, mission control directed her to return to the airlock while Moghbeli gathered her tools and then did the deed. Himself.
The spacewalk ended with Moghbeli and O’Hara returning to the Quest airlock, where recompression began for a total of 6 hours and 42 minutes.
