CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will take part in a set of spacewalks outside the International Space Station to begin replacing batteries for one of the ISS’ power channels, according to the space agency.
The first of the two walks is set to begin around 7:35 a.m. on June 26, NASA officials said in a news release. The second spacewalk is scheduled for July 1 at the same time. Both walks could last as long as seven hours, according to NASA.
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Cassidy, the commander of Expedition 63, and Behnken, who joined the crew onboard the ISS last month after arriving on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon with veteran NASA astronaut Doug Hurley, will depart the Quest airlock for both spacewalks, NASA said on its website.
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During the walks, the astronauts will replace old nickel-hydrogen batteries for one of two power channels on the far starboard truss of the station with a set of new lithium-ion batteries that arrived to the ISS last month on a Japanese cargo ship, according to a news release. The battery replacement work is part of power upgrade spacewalks that began in January 2017.
As extravehicular crew member 1 for both spacewalks, Cassidy can be identified during the walks as the astronaut wearing the spacesuit with red stripes, NASA officials said. Behnken, as extravehicular crew member 2, will sport the spacesuit with no stripes.
NASA officials said the walks will mark the seventh and eighth spacewalks for each astronaut and the 228th and 229th performed for space station assembly, maintenance and upgrades.
You can watch the spacewalks live when they happen on NASA-TV and ClickOrlando.com/space.