Stuck Astronauts Complete First Joint Spacewalk, Set Record for Female Spacewalker
NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, currently stranded aboard the International Space Station (ISS) due to delays in their return transport, successfully completed their first joint spacewalk on Thursday, The Associated Press reports.
The spacewalk marks nearly eight months since they arrived at the orbiting laboratory.
The primary objectives of the spacewalk included removing a faulty antenna and collecting samples from the station’s exterior to test for surviving microbes that may have escaped from vents after launching from Earth.
The astronauts faced some initial difficulty unbolting the antenna, but managed to detach it after nearly four hours outside the ISS. Mission Control advised them to carefully monitor the area for any floating debris resulting from the removal.
During the operation, 260 miles above Earth, Williams set a new record for total time spent spacewalking by a female astronaut.
Williams and Wilmore were originally slated for a one-week mission when they arrived last June. However, their new Boeing Starliner capsule encountered significant issues, leading NASA to return it to Earth without a crew. This left the two test pilots, both retired Navy captains, in orbit pending their return via a SpaceX spacecraft. Due to delays in launching their replacements, they now face an extended mission of up to 10 months, with their return not expected until late March or early April.
While this was Wilmore’s first spacewalk of this mission, Williams previously conducted a spacewalk two weeks ago with another NASA astronaut. Both astronauts have previous experience with spacewalks during prior stays on the ISS.
With a total of nine spacewalks under her belt, Williams broke the record for the most accumulated time spent spacewalking by a woman, previously held by retired astronaut Peggy Whitson, who logged 60 hours and 21 minutes over 10 spacewalks. Williams’ total is not yet officially confirmed, as the spacewalk itself lasted for almost seven hours, which means she broke the record by at least 6.5 hours.
