Dec. 22, 2022 — Expedition 68 Flight Engineer and NASA spacewalker Josh Cassada prepares a roll-out solar array for its deployment on the International Space Station’s (ISS) Port-4 truss segment as the orbiting lab flew 262 miles above the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Namibia.
Astronauts Frank Rubio and Josh Cassada conducted a spacewalk on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022, for seven hours and eight minutes to install the new roll-out solar arrays to upgrade the station’s power system. The new ISS Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs) will increase power generation capability by up to 30%, increasing the station’s total available power from 160 kilowatts to up to 215 kilowatts.
It was the 257th spacewalk in support of space station assembly, upgrades, and maintenance, and was the third spacewalk for both astronauts.
Find out what’s going on aboard—and outside—the ISS on the Space Station blog.
Credit: NASA/Frank Rubio