NASA Astronauts Complete 100th Spacewalk to Install Solar Arrays

Astronauts Complete 7-Hour Spacewalk to Install Solar Arrays Outside Space Station

NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk spent seven hours and eleven minutes working outside the International Space Station to mount a new power generation system. The extravehicular activity marked the 100th spacewalk conducted by United States astronauts from the orbiting laboratory.

Photographs released by NASA documented Menon suspended in the microgravity environment, with structural components of the station and reflections of his spacesuit visible on his helmet visor while Earth appeared in the background. Kutryk moved along the station’s exterior framework using specialized safety equipment designed for orbital operations.

Astronauts Deploy Seventh New Solar Array System

Menon utilized the Canadarm2 robotic system to transport folded solar arrays to the installation site, while his crewmate moved across the metal truss structure to complete the mechanical rigging. The mission involved securing a new set of solar panels onto the 2A electrical power channel before releasing mounting bolts that allowed the system to deploy automatically over a span of roughly ten minutes.

This hardware constitutes the seventh installation of its kind on the station, designed to increase electricity generation capacity and supplement older arrays that began operating between 2000 and 2009. The upgrade work forms part of ongoing maintenance intended to sustain operational systems during the remaining years of the laboratory’s service life ahead of its planned deorbit.

Menon acknowledged the milestone on the social platform X on Oct. 30, noting that sunlight has served as the primary power source keeping the station functional for more than 25 years in an extreme operating environment.