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NASA's Suni Williams Conducts First Spacewalk in Over 7 Months for Critical ISS Maintenance

Jan 16, 2025, 02:29 PM

NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Nick Hague conducted a spacewalk at the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, starting at 8:01am EST, marking Williams' first spacewalk in over seven months. The duo emerged from the ISS, 260 miles above Turkmenistan, to perform critical maintenance tasks, including repairs on the NICER X-ray telescope, the replacement of a rate gyro assembly to maintain station orientation, and the replacement of a planar reflector. Williams, who has been aboard the ISS since June of the previous year, was originally scheduled for a week-long test flight but has been stuck in orbit due to issues with Boeing's Starliner capsule. The spacewalk was the first by NASA astronauts since an aborted attempt last summer, following a fix to a water leak issue in the airlock. This was Williams' eighth spacewalk. Williams and her colleague Butch Wilmore are expected to return to Earth in late March or early April, after a prolonged stay due to delays in the launch of their replacements by SpaceX.