Sunita Williams to embark on spacewalk on Aug. 30

 

AP U.S. astronaut Sunita Williams. File photo

Four ISS astronauts, including Indian-American Sunita Williams, will embark on two spacewalks outside the International Space Station to install new equipment and replace defective installations, NASA said.

The first spacewalk, scheduled to begin on August 20, will feature Expedition 32 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency in Russian Orlan spacesuits.

They will float outside the Pirs docking compartment airlock for a 6-1/2 hour spacewalk to relocate a cargo boom from Pirs to the Zarya module, complete the installation of micrometeoroid debris shields on the Zvezda service module and deploy a small science satellite.

The second spacewalk, scheduled on August 30, will feature NASA Flight Engineer Sunita Williams and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Flight Engineer Akihiko Hoshide.

It will be a 6-1/2 hour excursion designed to replace a faulty power relay unit on the station’s truss, rig power cables for the arrival late next year of a Russian laboratory module, and install a thermal cover on a docking port.

The spacewalks will be the 163rd and 164th in support of space station assembly and maintenance. Padalka has conducted eight previous spacewalks and will wear a suit bearing red stripes.

Malenchenko has conducted four spacewalks and will wear blue stripes, according to a NASA statement.

Williams will wear a suit with red stripes for the fifth spacewalk in her career. Hoshide, wearing a suit with no stripes, will be conducting his first spacewalk. He is the third Japanese astronaut in history to conduct a spacewalk.