Second All-Female Spacewalk Is Underway at Space Station

NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir are replacing batteries on the space station's solar arrays today. (Photo Credit: NASA / Twitter)

Two NASA astronauts are conducting the second all-female spacewalk at the International Space Station (ISS) and you can watch the mission here.

At approximately 7 a.m. ET, NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir went outside the space station to start the first spacewalk of the year. Today, they’ll be focusing on replacing batteries on solar arrays located outside of the orbiting laboratory. The repairs are expected to take approximately 6.5 hours.

During the first part of the spacewalk, Koch experienced some technical difficulties when her helmet lights and video camera system become loose. Even though the pair were set back about 30 minutes, they were able to continue their tasks efficiently after the small hiccup.

Today’s spacewalk follows the first all-female spacewalk, which took place in October 2019. Koch and Meir made history on Oct. 18 after they successfully fixed a battery charge/discharge unit outside the orbiting laboratory.

✅ First spacewalk task complete! @Astro_Christina & @Astro_Jessica removed one of the @Space_Station‘s old nickel-hydrogen batteries, which are being replaced with new lithium-ion batteries that store and distribute power from the solar arrays. Watch: https://t.co/CEsJrxByMF pic.twitter.com/qOaujrJkzz

— NASA (@NASA) January 15, 2020

“In the end, I do think it’s important, and I think it’s important because of the historical nature of what we’re doing. In the past women haven’t always been at the table,” Koch said. “It’s wonderful to be contributing to the space program at a time when all contributions are being accepted, when everyone has a role.”

On Wed., Jan. 15, @Astro_Christina and @Astro_Jessica will venture outside @Space_Station on a ~6.5 hour spacewalk to continue replacing batteries for the power channel on one of the station’s solar arrays.
🕠 NASA TV coverage begins at 5:30am ET: https://t.co/ZuxLDtRxxM pic.twitter.com/oPceQFnk45

— NASA (@NASA) January 15, 2020

For more spacewalk updates, follow NASA’s Twitter account.

More on Geek.com:

• Two All-Female Spacewalks Scheduled This Month
• SpaceX Tests Falcon 9 Booster Ahead of Crew Dragon In-Flight Abort Test
• NASA’s Christina Koch Sets Female Spaceflight Record

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