Two American Crewmembers from Space Station ISS Started Spacewalk

Two American crewmembers from the International Space Station ISS started a spacewalk on Tuesday, as could be seen directly on NASA TV.

Kayla Barron and Raya Chari switched to their spacesuits’ internal systems at 1:12 PM GMT, officially beginning a spacewalk that would last approximately 6.5 hours.

The duo must assemble and install infrastructure to upgrade the solar panels, NASA says. Ultimately, the spacemeccano will have 215 kilowatts of power compared to 160 kilowatts now.

For Barron, it is the second spacewalk of her career; for Chari, it is the first.

Four Americans, two Russians, and one German currently live and work on the ISS on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA). According to NASA, “nothing has changed” since the Russian invasion of Ukraine concerning the space station.