Expedition 65 Shane Kimbrough Discusses IROSAs Spacewalk - June 14, 2021

SPACE STATION CREW MEMBER DISCUSSES SPACEWALK TO UPGRADE STATION POWER

Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 65 Flight Engineer Shane Kimbrough of NASA discussed a pair of spacewalks he and crewmate Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) are scheduled to make June 16 and 20 to begin the installation of new ISS roll-up solar arrays (IROSAs) that will augment the power supply of the orbital outpost for the remainder of its lifetime. The first array of this initial pair of power generators, launched on the SpaceX Cargo Dragon flight two weeks ago, will be installed on the first of two spacewalks by Kimbrough and Pesquet on the far port truss of the station (P6 truss) to upgrade the power output for the station’s 2B power channel. A second spacewalk by Kimbrough and Pesquet will install the second roll-up array on the P6 truss for the 4B power channel. Four more arrays will be installed next year to complete the upgrades