Astronauts to install the final solar array on the ISS — Space.com

NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk are set to complete the modernization of the International Space Station's power system on November 5. During a spacewalk lasting about seven hours, they plan to install the eighth and final iROSA roll-out solar array.

Final stage of the modernization

The spacewalk is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time, or 1:30 p.m. GMT. According to Space.com, NASA's broadcast was due to begin at 12:00 p.m. GMT.

Installing the final panel is expected to complete the ISS power capacity upgrade, which began in June 2021. According to NASA, it is expected to increase the station's electricity generation capacity from 160 to approximately 215 kilowatts — by about 30%.

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Second spacewalk in a week

For Menon and Kutryk, this will be their second spacewalk within a week. During their previous spacewalk on October 29, they installed the seventh iROSA array. That operation became the 100th U.S. spacewalk from the ISS and the first spacewalk by a Canadian astronaut since 2019.

Menon and Kutryk are currently aboard the ISS along with NASA astronauts Luke Delaney and Jessica Watkins, as well as cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov, Anna Kikina and Sergei Teteryatnikov.