Watch | NASA astronauts conduct spacewalk to upgrade ISS

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is conducting two spacewalks, on Sunday, February 28 and Friday, March 5, to upgrade the International Space Station. 

Three crew members from Expedition 64 – NASA astronauts Kate Rubins and Victor Glover and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi – will conduct the two spacewalks as pairs. 

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These will the 235th and 236th spacewalks in the history of  station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades, according to NASA.

Today’s spacewalk comprises Rubins and Glover stepping out of the space station to assemble and install modification kits required for the new solar array upgrades. 

Watch their spacewalk below:

Rubins is extravehicular crew member 1, wearing red stripes, while Glover is extravehicular crew member 2, wearing a suit without stripes.

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Although the current solar arrays are functioning well, they have started showing signs of degradation, having exceeded their 15-year-life. They were deployed in December, 2000 and have powered the space station for over two decades now. 

The new solar array will be deployed later this year, which will increase the station’s total available power from 160 kilowatts to 215 kilowatts.

The next spacewalk, on March 5, is aimed at completing several other tasks on the ISS, including venting ammonia from the Early Ammonia System. 

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Rubins and Noguchi will step out of the outpost and install a “stiffener” on the Quest airlock thermal cover to prevent it from blowing out when residual atmosphere escapes as the hatch is opened. 

The two spacewalks are the third and fourth of Rubin’s career, while today’s spacewalk is the third of Glover’s career. Noguchi will conduct the fourth spacewalk of his career on March 5.