NASA has laid out a busy month ahead outside the International Space Station. At a briefing from the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, officials confirmed that three spacewalks will take place in the month of August outside the orbiting laboratory. All three will be carried on NASA Plus, with the agency directing viewers to nasa.gov for coverage details.
The series begins on Thursday, August 6, with the first outing, designated Spacewalk 96. NASA said Jessica Meir and Anil Menon are scheduled to exit the station's Quest airlock to install hardware that will modify the station's 3B power channel. The work is intended to prepare that channel for the future installation of a rollout solar array, known as an iROSA.
That solar array is central to keeping the station running. According to NASA, the array is scheduled for delivery later this year and will provide additional power to support critical station operations. The agency specified that this includes supporting the station's safe and controlled deorbit, tying the new hardware to the outpost's long-term plans.
The August 6 outing also marks personal milestones for the two astronauts involved. NASA noted that the spacewalk will be the sixth for Jessica Meir, an experienced spacewalker, and the first for Anil Menon. The pairing places a veteran alongside a first-timer for the opening excursion of the series.
A week later, on Thursday, August 13, NASA will carry out US Spacewalk 97. The agency said two astronauts will go outside to replace a space-to-ground antenna on the orbital complex. Officials described the antenna as a critical communication system used to transmit data and high-speed communication between mission control in Houston and the space station.
The third and final spacewalk of the series is set for Thursday, August 25. NASA said two crew members will connect power channel cables and data relay systems as part of ongoing maintenance at the Harmony module's forward port. As with the other outings, part of that work is aimed at preparations for the station's future deorbit.
NASA said it would share additional details about Spacewalks 97 and 98, including timing, assigned crews and coverage information, as it gets closer to each of those dates. The agency framed all three excursions as being conducted in support of space station assembly, operations and maintenance during what officials described as a busy period ahead for the orbiting laboratory.