Johnson Space Center in Webster will host a news conference Tuesday, Oct. 20, previewing two spacewalks that complete the International Space Station's solar power upgrade. NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk will conduct the walks Oct. 29 and Nov. 5.

The briefing is set for 1 p.m. CDT at JSC. NASA will stream it live on the agency's website and other platforms, according to a NASA news release published Wednesday, Oct. 14.

Two JSC-based officials will lead the briefing: Gaurang Patel, operations integration manager for NASA's Low Earth Orbit Program, and Garrett Hehn, spacewalk flight director in the Flight Operations Directorate.

What the spacewalks will do

On Oct. 29, Menon and Kutryk will exit the station's Quest airlock for U.S. Spacewalk 100. They will install the seventh International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array, known as an IROSA, on the station's 2A electrical power channel. The array will support critical station operations, including the station's eventual safe and controlled deorbit, according to NASA.

On Nov. 5, the pair will head back outside for U.S. Spacewalk 101 to install the eighth and final IROSA on the 3B power channel. That installation completes the station's power augmentation upgrades.

Together, the eight roll-out arrays will boost the station's electric power generation capacity from 160 kilowatts to approximately 215 kilowatts, an increase of up to 30%, NASA said.

The two outings will be the 285th and 286th spacewalks conducted in support of station assembly, maintenance and upgrades.

Solar arrays arrived Oct. 13

The final pair of roll-out solar arrays arrived at the station aboard a SpaceX Cargo Dragon that launched Oct. 13 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, as Spaceflight Now reported. The mission carried more than 6,300 pounds of science and supplies.

"It's been quite the journey," Patel said during post-launch remarks on NASA's broadcast. "Folks may remember back in 2017 when we launched the ROSA on CRS-11 and that's really where we demonstrated this innovative approach to deploying a solar array."

Menon, a colonel in the U.S. Space Force and emergency medicine physician, is on his first spaceflight. He launched to the station July 14 aboard a Soyuz spacecraft from Kazakhstan, according to a NASA pre-launch listing. Kutryk, a former Royal Canadian Air Force test pilot, arrived aboard SpaceX Crew-13 in October.

Menon already has spacewalk experience on this mission. He and European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot completed a six-hour, 23-minute spacewalk Aug. 18 to disconnect a failed high-speed antenna on the station's Z1 truss segment, according to a NASA station blog post.

NASA will share additional coverage details for both spacewalks closer to each operation on the agency's live events page and station blog.

Upcoming at JSC

  • Tuesday, Oct. 20: Spacewalk preview news conference, 1 p.m. CDT, streamed live on NASA's website
  • Oct. 29: U.S. Spacewalk 100
  • Nov. 5: U.S. Spacewalk 101