NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore completed their spacewalk at the International Space Station (ISS) at 1:09 p.m. ET on Thursday, after spending 5 hours and 26 minutes in the vacuum of space.
Tasks included removing a radio frequency group antenna assembly from the space station’s truss, and collecting samples of surface material from the outside of both the Destiny laboratory and the Quest airlock that will later be analyzed for signs of microbial life.
NASA released a couple of video clips showing Williams taking a ride on the Canadarm 2 robotic arm as the station passed some 250 miles over London.
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The station was orbiting above London, England, as the Canadarm2 robotic arm maneuvered @Astro_Suni to continue removing radio communications hardware. Watch now on @NASA+. https://t.co/OD43nAlf5m pic.twitter.com/qL9ljPGo4X
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) January 30, 2025
Here’s another clip showing the robotic arm delivering Williams to a worksite on the outside of the station.
.@Astro_Suni rides the Canadarm2 robotic arm to the worksite where she will remove radio communications hardware for stowage inside the space station. Watch now on @NASA+. https://t.co/OD43nAlf5m pic.twitter.com/UFqk4Y6AIT
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) January 30, 2025
Thursday’s spacewalk saw Williams surpass the record held by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson for total spacewalking time by a female astronaut, with the American now having spent 62 hours and 6 minutes outside of the space-based laboratory, a record that places her fourth on NASA’s all-time list.
The spacewalk was the ninth for Williams and the fifth for Wilmore. If their names sound familiar, that’s because their ISS mission has lasted much longer than expected due to issues with the Starliner spacecraft that brought them to the orbital outpost in June last year.
The mission was only supposed to last eight days, but due to technical problems on what was the Starliner’s first crewed flight, NASA engineers decided to bring the spacecraft home empty, leaving Williams and Wilmore to hitch a ride on a returning SpaceX Crew Dragon in the next couple of months. The precise date of their return trip has yet to be confirmed.