Veteran astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore took off to thew International Space Station (ISS) in the maiden crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner in June, for an eight-day mission.
Almost 8 months later, the duo is still in space – and today had the opportunity to step outside the ISS, to remove degraded radio communications hardware and collect samples looking for microorganism leaks outside the craft.
Multiple problems with the Starliner, from helium leaks to propulsion issues, led NASA overturn Boeing’s assessment, and send the capsule back to Earth empty.
Wilmore and Williams will return in the SpaceX Crew-9 capsule, awaiting docked outside the space station, after the next flight, Crew-10, arrives at the space station.
Watch: Williams and Wilmore get ready for their science and maintenance spacewalk.
Live now on @NASA+. @NASA_Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore get ready for their science and maintenance spacewalk set to begin at 8am ET (13:00 UTC) today.https://t.co/axCTq3vEjN
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) January 30, 2025
CNN reported:
“Initially, the astronauts were solely focused on removing the hardware, a top-priority task. While it took slightly longer than expected, the duo was successful, and Wilmore was able to move on to swabbing the outside of the space station.
The spacewalk began at 7:43 a.m. ET and concluded at 1:09 p.m. ET, lasting 5 hours and 26 minutes. The entirety of the spacewalk was streamed on NASA+ and NASA’s YouTube channel.”
The veterans have had ample experience with outside space tasks. Williams performed today her ninth career spacewalk while it was the fifth for Wilmore.
Williams now holds the record for a total spacewalking time of 62 hours and 6 minutes.
Watch: Canadarm2 robotic arm maneuvered Williams for maintenance position.
The station was orbiting above London, England, as the Canadarm2 robotic arm maneuvered @Astro_Suni to continue removing radio communications hardware. Watch now on @NASA+. https://t.co/OD43nAlf5m pic.twitter.com/qL9ljPGo4X
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) January 30, 2025
“The veteran NASA astronauts removed radio communications hardware, called the radio frequency group, which is an S-band antenna that was previously unable to be released during two previous spacewalks. The duo used a unique wrench tool to remove the bolts securing the hardware to the exterior of the space station. The radio communications hardware will be returned to Earth and refurbished on the ground.
As Williams cleaned up the work site where the removal took place, Wilmore moved on to swab different places outside the space station for the ISS External Microorganisms experiment, which focuses on collecting samples near life support system vents to see whether the space station releases microorganisms.”
NASA is following the strict requirements for ‘planetary protections’, limiting human contamination of space environments, and preventing contaminants from returning to Earth.
Scientists want to understand if any microorganisms are being released into space by the orbiting laboratory, if and how they can survive and reproduce in the cosmic environment.
Watch: Wilmore tackles the final vent swabing the area to determine whether the Space Station releases microbes.
Two down, one to go.
Butch Wilmore is heading to the final vent where he will swab the area to determine whether @Space_Station releases microbes and, if so, how many and how far they may travel. pic.twitter.com/sO8VKLf0iY
— ISS Research (@ISS_Research) January 30, 2025
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The post Stranded Astronauts From Starliner, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore Go Out of the International Space Station for a Spacewalk, Perform Maintenance and a Science Experiment appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
