On a Thursday afternoon in late October, two astronauts, one American and one Canadian, floated outside the International Space Station and spent seven hours bringing a new solar wing into service. The effort answers a quiet truth about machines built to last: the station's original panels have outlived their design life and are slowly giving less light back as electricity. The new arrays do not replace the old ones but work beside them, lifting the outpost's power by a fifth to a third, enough to sustain its daily work and its planned, controlled return to Earth around 2030.
Astronauts Unroll 63-Foot Solar Array on Station's 100th U.S. Spacewalk, Adding Power for Its Final Years
"It is always sunny in space."
Mark
Why does a solar panel installation count as a milestone?
Mimi
Partly the number: the 100th U.S. spacewalk from the station without a shuttle docked. But mostly it's practical. This array is the second-to-last in an upgrade meant to power the station through the rest of its life.
Mark
Why does it need upgrading at all?
Mimi
The original eight arrays are past their 15-year design life and produce less than they once did. The new ones work alongside them rather than replacing them.
Luke
The 20% to 30% power increase, though, is Space.com's figure, and it describes the arrays used together with the older panels. I wouldn't read it as what this one array adds.
Mark
Fair. What was the hardest part of the job?
Mimi
The reporting doesn't rank difficulty. We know the steps: unbolt, carry on Canadarm2, bolt on, connect cables. The cable connection happened on a night pass because of safety concerns.
Luke
And we don't know what those concerns were. The source states the reason only that broadly.
Mark
The unrolling happened without a motor?
Mimi
Yes. Energy stored in the carbon composite booms did it. Deployment started at 4 hours 23 minutes in and finished about 12 minutes later.
Mark
What's next?
Mimi
A spacewalk on Nov. 5 to install the eighth and final iROSA, finishing a five-year upgrade ahead of the 2030 deorbit.
Luke
That date is scheduled, not done. It's worth watching whether it holds.
Le Pouls
- A 63-foot solar array, folded to the weight of a heavy suitcase, was unbolted and carried across the station's exterior by two astronauts clipped to a robotic arm and a long truss.
- The station's aging original panels, past their 15-year design life, are losing strength, and the outpost needs more power to keep operating until its deorbit.
- Crews wrestled with timing and safety, connecting cables during a night pass and working ahead of schedule to free the array from its storage platform.
- The panel unfurled on its own stored energy within about 12 minutes, and with one final array still waiting, the second spacewalk on Nov. 5 will complete the upgrade.
On a Thursday afternoon in late October, two astronauts, one American and one Canadian, floated outside the International Space Station and spent seven hours bringing a new solar wing into service. The effort answers a quiet truth about machines built to last: the station's original panels have outlived their design life and are slowly giving less light back as electricity. The new arrays do not replace the old ones but work beside them, lifting the outpost's power by a fifth to a third, enough to sustain its daily work and its planned, controlled return to Earth around 2030.
On Thursday, Oct. 29, NASA's Anil Menon and Canada's Joshua Kutryk stepped out of the Quest airlock and spent seven hours and eleven minutes working on the outside of the International Space Station. Their job was to install a new solar array, an iROSA, a panel that had arrived weeks earlier folded into the unpressurized trunk of a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule. Once stretched out, it measures 63 feet.
The work was delicate. Menon rode the end of the Canadarm2 robotic arm while carrying the package to the station's port side, and Kutryk made his way along the main truss. Together they bolted the array to the power system, timing the cable connections for a night pass to keep things safe. Nobody needed a motor to open it: the energy stored in its carbon composite booms unrolled it, and within about twelve minutes it was fully extended. The crew even finished ahead of schedule.
The reason for the effort is age. The station's original panels have passed their 15-year design life and no longer produce what they once did. The new arrays work alongside them, raising the station's power by 20 to 30 percent, which the outpost will need for its operations and its eventual controlled deorbit, now planned for 2030.
The day also carried personal firsts. It was Menon's fourth spacewalk and Kutryk's first, and he became the fifth Canadian to walk in space and the first Canadian outside since 2019. Menon, reflecting on the milestone of 100 U.S. spacewalks from the station, said that it is always sunny in space. The crew returns outside on Nov. 5 to install the final array, completing the upgrade.
On Thursday, Oct. 29, two astronauts finished a spacewalk outside the International Space Station at 3:08 p.m. EDT. NASA's Anil Menon and Joshua Kutryk of the Canadian Space Agency had spent 7 hours and 11 minutes outside, starting and ending in the Quest airlock. Their task was to install and unroll a new solar array. Space.com described the outing as the 100th U.S. spacewalk from the station.
The array is an iROSA, short for ISS roll-out solar array. It weighed 750 pounds while rolled up and reached the station earlier this month in the unpressurized trunk of a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule, on that company's 35th resupply mission for NASA. Once fully unrolled it stretches 63 feet. It is the second-to-last in a set of upgraded panels meant to keep the station supplied with electricity for the rest of its life.
The work began with Menon and Kutryk unbolting the array from a temporary storage platform. Menon anchored himself to the end of the Canadarm2 robotic arm and carried the package to the station's port side, while Kutryk made his way to the worksite along the main truss. Together they bolted the array onto the station's 2A electrical power channel and connected its cables to the power system. Space.com reported that the cables were connected during a night pass because of safety concerns.
No motor opened the panel. Energy stored in its rolled-up carbon composite booms was enough to unfurl it. Mission Control reported that deployment began four hours and 23 minutes into the spacewalk, and about 12 minutes later the array was fully extended. It now covers roughly half of a larger but less capable legacy panel on the P4 truss. The pair also got ahead of schedule, removing some of the beams that hold the final array on its temporary platform and rotating two launch locks used during its delivery.
The reason for the effort is age. The station's eight original arrays produce less power than they once did, having passed their 15-year design life, according to Space.com. The new arrays do not replace them. They work alongside them, and Space.com reported that used together with the older panels they raise the station's power supply by 20% to 30%. That extra electricity is needed for current and planned operations, including the station's safe, controlled deorbit, currently scheduled for 2030.
The day carried several firsts. It was Menon's fourth spacewalk and Kutryk's first. Kutryk is the fifth Canadian astronaut to conduct a spacewalk, and the first Canadian outside since April 2019, when David Saint-Jacques went out with NASA's Anne McClain. Menon has now logged 26 hours and 31 minutes of spacewalk time during his current stay.
The count of 100 refers to U.S. spacewalks from the station without a space shuttle docked; the shuttle has since been retired. Across all of station assembly, maintenance and upgrades there have been 285 spacewalks, including 66 from the Russian segment and 119 by visiting shuttle crews. The first U.S. spacewalk from the Quest airlock took place on Feb. 20, 2002, when Carl Walz and Daniel Bursch spent 5 hours and 47 minutes outside, mostly testing the airlock's systems. Afterward, Menon said the milestone reflects how much has been accomplished, noting that crews have been performing complex operations like this for over 26 years. Of working outside, he said, "it is always sunny in space."
Menon and Kutryk are scheduled to go out again on Nov. 5. They are expected to install the eighth and final iROSA, which would complete the five-year process of upgrading the station's power supply.
Citations marquantes
It is always sunny in space.— Anil Menon, NASA astronaut
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