NASA is aiming to conduct its first spacewalk of 2024 on Monday, June 24.
It follows last week’s cancellation of a spacewalk due to a “spacesuit discomfort issue” experienced by NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick while preparing for his very first extravehicular activity (EVA), to give spacewalks their official name.
NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson, who was set to take part in last week’s spacewalk alongside Dominick, will partner NASA’s Mike Barratt for Monday’s EVA, which will be the fourth for Dyson and the third for Barratt.
The June 24 walk was already scheduled, but the earlier cancellation means that some of the tasks for the EVA have been changed, NASA said on Tuesday.
Activities will include removing faulty radio hardware and also swabbing station surfaces for microorganisms, which was part of the plan for the canceled spacewalk. The latter task will help scientists to learn whether microorganisms that escape from the station’s vents can survive and reproduce in the hostile conditions of space.
Dyson and Barratt will be supported from inside the space station by Dominick and NASA’s Jeanette Epps. In preparation, the pair have been using a computer to practice operating the Canadarm2 robotic arm that will assist Dyson and Barratt during their EVA.
The next few weeks will be particularly busy aboard the ISS. A day after the spacewalk, NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are expected to depart the station aboard the Starliner spacecraft in a highly anticipated homecoming for the capsule’s first human flight. The following week, on Tuesday, July 2, another EVA is set to take place. NASA has yet to name the astronauts for that spacewalk, and the tasks for it will be assigned following the completion of the June 24 EVA.
NASA will live stream the upcoming spacewalks from about 250 miles above Earth, with both expected to last around six-and-a-half hours. Check back later for full details on how to watch the broadcasts.
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