Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk is scheduled to step outside the International Space Station for the first time on Thursday, October 29, joining NASA astronaut Anil Menon on a spacewalk to install a new solar array on the orbiting laboratory's exterior. The excursion, designated U.S. Spacewalk 100, is set to begin shortly after 8 a.m. EDT, according to Yahoo News Canada.
Both astronauts are on their first missions to space. The spacewalk will be Menon's fourth and Kutryk's debut. The Canadian Space Agency has invited media to watch the event, The Globe and Mail reported in a separate advisory.
Kutryk's assignment comes less than a month into his stay aboard the station, Yahoo News Canada reported.
Why it matters
The spacewalk adds a Canadian dimension to routine maintenance of the station's power system. Kutryk, representing the Canadian Space Agency, will work alongside his NASA counterpart on hardware that helps keep the laboratory supplied with electricity, while the agency's Canadarm2 robotic arm supports the operation from inside.
The outing also marks a personal milestone: it is the first time Kutryk has left the confines of the station since arriving on his debut flight.
What the crew will do outside the station
The two astronauts will exit through the Quest airlock and spend six hours and 45 minutes outside, with their main task being the installation of an International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array, or IROSA, according to NASA.
The agency's account of the plan, cited by Yahoo News Canada, describes a coordinated sequence. The pair will first free the roll-out array from an external pallet. Menon will then secure himself to the robotic arm, collect the array and ride the Canadarm2 to the installation site. Kutryk, meanwhile, will stay attached to the station's truss structure and make his way to the worksite on the port side to help Menon finish the job. Once the array is in place, flight controllers will power it up.
Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney will assist from inside the station, helping the spacewalkers into and out of their suits and operating the Canadarm2.
The new array will occupy the 2A position. Six IROSA units are already supplying power at the 1A, 1B, 2B, 3A, 4A and 4B locations. The first pair, at 2B and 4B, went up in June 2021; 3A and 4A followed in December 2022; and 1A and 1B were added in June 2023.
The hardware being installed on Thursday reached the station aboard SpaceX's CRS-35 cargo resupply mission, which launched on October 13, Yahoo News Canada reported. A second spacewalk on November 5 is planned for Menon and Kutryk, when they are expected to fit the eighth and last IROSA at the 3B position.
A different kind of solar panel
The roll-out design differs from the rigid arrays used on most earlier spacecraft. Rigid panels travel folded and are opened in orbit by motors. A roll-out array is flexible and launches wound on a spool, occupying roughly a quarter of the volume of a rigid counterpart, according to the reporting.
Once released, it extends on its own, driven by energy stored when it was rolled up, with no motor or gearbox required. The approach also makes the array considerably lighter, an advantage when launch mass is a constraint.
The technology has flown beyond low Earth orbit as well. NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, used roll-out arrays to power its solar electric propulsion system on its way to the asteroid Dimorphos, making it the first deep space mission to rely on the design.
Thursday's spacewalk is expected to be carried live, with the Canadian Space Agency having invited media to observe Kutryk's first venture outside the station. The next milestone to watch is the November 5 follow-up, when the final pair of new arrays is due to be fitted.
