NASA’s Anil Menon Completes First Spacewalk, Helps Prepare ISS for Solar Expansion

NASA astronauts Anil Menon and Jessica Meir have completed a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS), installing hardware that will allow additional solar arrays to be added to the orbiting laboratory.

The spacewalk began at 8:33 am EDT on Thursday (6:03 pm IST) and concluded at 3:00 pm EDT (12:30 am IST Friday), lasting six hours and 27 minutes. It marked the 281st spacewalk conducted in support of the space station, while it was Meir’s sixth and Menon’s first.

The astronauts exited the Quest airlock to carry out structural upgrades on the station’s exterior. Their primary task was to install mounting hardware on the 3B power channel, located on the Starboard 6 truss segment.

According to NASA, the work will enable the future installation of International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays (IROSA). The additional solar arrays are expected to increase the station’s available power, supporting critical systems and contributing to preparations for its eventual controlled deorbit.

Since 2021, astronauts have installed six IROSA assemblies during earlier spacewalks. Two additional arrays are expected to be delivered to the space station later this year.

During the latest spacewalk, Menon worked from an articulating portable foot restraint while the astronauts also routed cables that will transfer electricity from the future IROSA system to the 3B power channel. They subsequently covered the newly installed struts with multi-layer insulation.

The spacewalk was the first of three planned extravehicular activities for the Expedition 75 crew this month. On August 13, astronauts are scheduled to replace a Space-to-Ground antenna used for communications between the ISS and Mission Control in Houston.

A third spacewalk on August 25 will involve connecting power-channel cables and data relay systems, along with replacing a navigational aid used for spacecraft docking on the Harmony module.