LIVE: Astronaut duo conducting 200th ISS spacewalk
Expedition 51 Flight Engineer Jack Fischer of NASA floats inside the International Space Station while wearing his spacesuit. He and Commander Peggy Whitson were fit checking their spacesuits in advance of Friday’s spacewalk. Photo Credit: Thomas Pesquet / ESA / NASA
Expedition 51 Commander Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Jack Fischer are performing U.S. extravehicular activity 42 (EVA-42) today, May 12, 2017. This is the 200th spacewalk in support of International Space Station assembly and maintenance.
The NASA astronaut duo is embarking on a 6.5 hour EVA to replace an avionics box, install a shield on Pressurized Mating Adapter 3, and rig a new high-definition camera and a pair of wireless antennas.
NASA’s broadcast started at 6:30 a.m. EDT (10:30 GMT). The spacewalk was slated to start at 8 a.m. EDT (12:00 GMT); however, this was postponed to replace a Service and Cooling Umbilical inside the Quest airlock. This is Whitson’s ninth spacewalk, the most for a female astronaut. She is wearing the suit with red stripes. This is Fischer’s first spacewalk. He is wearing the suit with no stripes.
Video courtesy of NASA
Derek Richardson
Derek Richardson has a degree in mass media, with an emphasis in contemporary journalism, from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. While at Washburn, he was the managing editor of the student run newspaper, the Washburn Review. He also has a website about human spaceflight called Orbital Velocity. You can find him on twitter @TheSpaceWriter.
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