A major upgrade to the International Space Station’s power system has been completed following a successful spacewalk involving two astronauts from NASA and the Canadian Space Agency.
On October 29, NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk spent approximately seven hours and eleven minutes working outside the orbiting laboratory to install and deploy a new roll-out solar array.
The installation marks another important step in improving the station’s electricity generation capabilities. The newly installed equipment is designed to provide additional power for the station’s essential operations.
A Major Step Toward More Electricity
The newly installed solar array is the seventh of eight planned upgrades designed to improve the International Space Station’s power system.
According to NASA, the complete upgrade is expected to increase the station’s available power generation capacity from approximately 160 kilowatts to 215 kilowatts.
This represents an increase of up to 30 percent, providing additional electrical capacity for scientific experiments, station operations and other essential activities.
Another Spacewalk Is Planned
The astronauts also completed preliminary tasks for another scheduled spacewalk on November 5, when the final solar array is expected to be installed.
Once completed, the upgrade will represent an important achievement in maintaining the station’s power infrastructure as NASA prepares for its eventual retirement.
The International Space Station continues to serve as an important platform for scientific research, international cooperation and technological development.
Source: NASA – Official mission update