NASA astronauts conduct the second spacewalk of the year

By Ashley Strickland, CNN

    (CNN) -- Astronauts Mike Hopkins and Victor Glover Jr. conducted a spacewalk Monday to finish battery upgrades and install high-definition cameras outside of the International Space Station.

Although the astronauts began the spacewalk later than expected at 7:56 a.m. ET, they worked through their list of tasks quickly and even accomplished some "get-ahead" items that were planned for future spacewalks.

The spacewalk ended at 1:16 p.m. ET and lasted for five hours and 20 minutes.


It was the second spacewalk experience for Glover, who is a few months into his first spaceflight on the station.


This was the 234th spacewalk in support of the space station's assembly, maintenance and upgrades.

Hopkins wore the spacesuit bearing red stripes as crew member 1 and Glover was in the spacesuit with no stripes as crew member 2.

The astronauts installed the final lithium-ion battery adapter plate and connected it to the battery, which was installed robotically ahead of the spacewalk. This installation wraps up work to complete the replacement of aging nickel-hydrogen batteries outside the station that began in January 2017.

The new batteries are more efficient and provide the space station with an improved power capacity.

Glover and Hopkins then moved to the opposite side of the station to focus on other upgrades. Their work included replacing an external standard camera with a new high-definition camera on the Destiny laboratory, and replacing camera and light assembly components needed for the Japanese robotic arm's camera system, located outside of the Japanese Kibo module. They also routed some ethernet cables.


Rubins and Noguchi had the task of operating the robotic arm from inside the space station to assist the astronauts as they worked outside.


Glover and Rubins will pair up for the third spacewalk to prepare the station's power system for installing new solar arrays, which will increase the station's power supply.



While the astronauts don't feel the direct impacts of extreme cold and heat, there is the potential for a chill, so there are heaters installed in the astronauts' gloves to keep their hands warm, said Vincent LaCourt, spacewalk flight director at NASA for the February 1 spacewalk.


Share this article:
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?