NASA makes history again: Second ever all-woman spacewalking duo upgrades Space Station

NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli (upper) and Loral O’Hara (lower) conducting their first spacewalk for maintenance on the outside of the space station. (Image courtesy: NASA)

NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O'Hara completed a spacewalk lasting nearly seven hours outside the International Space Station (ISS) on November 1. They successfully replaced one of twelve Trundle Bearing Assemblies on the port truss Solar Alpha Rotary Joint. These critical bearings are responsible for enabling the station's solar arrays to accurately track the Sun's movement as the station orbits the Earth, and also facilitating the generation of electricity essential for powering the station.

NASA reported that although the astronauts intended to remove a malfunctioning electronics box known as a Radio Frequency Group from a communications antenna bracket during the spacewalk, there wasn't sufficient time to finish the task. "The duo lifted some multilayer insulation to make a better assessment of how to approach the job before replacing the insulation and deferring the task to a future spacewalk," NASA wrote in the blog.

Loss of tool bag during spacewalk

During the operation, an unintended loss of one tool bag occurred, NASA said. The American space agency stated that the probability of it recontacting the station is minimal.

"During the activity, one tool bag was inadvertently lost. Flight controllers spotted the tool bag using external station cameras. The tools were not needed for the remainder of the spacewalk. Mission Control analyzed the bag’s trajectory and determined that risk of recontacting the station is low," NASA said.

Moghbeli and O'Hara: Second all-woman duo in spacewalk history at ISS

This was the first spacewalk for both the astronauts and the 12th at the space station this year.

Only three spacewalks have been conducted entirely by women, and all three were carried out by the same team — NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir in 2019 and 2020. Moghbeli and O'Hara mark the second female duo ever to conduct a spacewalk jointly.

Moghbeli served as extravehicular activity (EVA) crew member 1 and wore a suit with red stripes. And, O’Hara served as extravehicular crew member 2 and wore an unmarked suit. Both astronauts arrived at the ISS earlier this year and are both crew members of Expedition 70, which began on September 27, 2023.

The spacewalk began at 8:05 a.m. EST and lasted 6 hours and 42 minutes. The excursion was aired live on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.

The pair's planned EVA was initially set for October 20; however, it was postponed due to an ammonia coolant leak found on a backup radiator of Russia's Nauka module on October 9.

Expedition 70: Crew on groundbreaking microgravity research mission

Flight commander Andreas Mogensen, along with flight engineers Jasmin Moghbeli, Satoshi Furukawa, Loral O'Hara, Konstantin Borisov, Oleg Kononenko, and Nikolai Chub, constitute the team of astronauts and cosmonauts that reached the ISS on September 27, 2023, forming the Expedition 70 crew. Their mission involves researching various microgravity phenomena with the aim of benefiting humans both on Earth and beyond. Throughout their stay in Earth's orbit, they will delve into studies related to heart health, cancer treatments, space manufacturing techniques, and more.

Crucial tasks completed in previous spacewalk

During a spacewalk that lasted over seven hours on October 25, two Russian cosmonauts, Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, who are part of the Expedition 70 crew, completed several vital tasks outside the International Space Station (ISS) including installing a synthetic radar communications system, deploying a nanosatellite to evaluate solar sail technology, and inspecting a coolant leak issue from an external backup radiator located on the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module.

Spacewalk for microbial analysis delayed over safety precautions

Another spacewalk, initially scheduled for October 12 with O'Hara and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen to gather samples for microbial analysis to explore potential microorganism existence on the exterior of the orbital complex, has been postponed by NASA due to the coolant leak issue discovered on October 9, prioritizing safety. The new tentative schedule places the spacewalk no earlier than December.