What Astronauts Sunita Williams & Nick Hague Are Likely From 2 Spacewalks

NASA has announced that astronaut Sunita Williams will participate in two spacewalks over the course of two weeks to carry out essential upgrades to the International Space Station (ISS).

On January 16, Williams will team up with astronaut Nick Hague for the first mission, designated as US Spacewalk 91, to complete key station enhancements.

Following this, she will embark on another spacewalk on January 23, this time alongside astronaut Butch Wilmore, for additional station upgrades. This mission is designated as US Spacewalk 92, according to NASA.

Nick Hague and Sunita Williams will replace a rate gyro assembly that helps provide orientation control for the station, install patches to cover damaged areas of light filters for an X-ray telescope called NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer), and replace a reflector device used for navigational data on one of the international docking adapters. The pair will check access areas and connector tools that will be used for future maintenance work on the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.

Hague will serve as spacewalk crew member 1 and will wear a suit with red stripes. Williams will serve as spacewalk crew member 2 and will wear an unmarked suit. This will be the fourth for Hague and the eighth for Williams. It will be the 273rd spacewalk in support of space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.

The second spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 7:15 a.m. on Jan. 23, and last about six and a half hours. NASA will provide live coverage beginning at 5:45 a.m. on NASA+.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will remove a radio frequency group antenna assembly from the station’s truss, collect samples of surface material for analysis from the Destiny laboratory and the Quest airlock to see whether microorganisms may exist on the exterior of the orbital complex, and prepare a spare elbow joint for the Canadarm2 robotic arm in the event it is needed for a replacement. It will be the 274th spacewalk in support of space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.