NASA Astronaut Sunita 'Suni' Williams, who has been stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) along with Butch Wilmore, stepped out for her first spacewalk after more than seven months in orbit.
While floating 260 miles above Earth, Williams radioed, “I’m coming out,” capturing her breathtaking yet routine nature of life and work in space for those living aboard the station.
LIVE: Two @NASA_Astronauts, Nick Hague and Suni Williams, step outside of the @Space_Station to support station upgrades, including repairs to our NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer) X-ray telescope. https://t.co/0VP296OmRY
— NASA (@NASA) January 16, 2025
Williams and Wilmore were due to return to Earth after a week-long mission in June 2024, however, the return has been delayed due to a technical issue.
The two veteran astronauts arrived at the ISS in June for an eight-day mission but have been stuck up there for over seven months due to technical difficulties. The astronauts will not return until late March or possibly April.
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Their return has been delayed many times now. Previously, they were scheduled to fly back in February 2025.
"NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 now is targeting no earlier than late March 2025 to launch four crew members to the International Space Station," NASA said in a statement.
Williams teamed up with astronaut Nick Hague on Thursday (Jan 16) to perform maintenance on the craft. Their tasks include repairing equipment that governs station orientation, patching light filters on the NICER X-ray telescope, and replacing a reflector device on an international docking adapter.
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Further, Sunita Williams will conduct another spacewalk next week on January 23, with Wilmore.
NASA is providing live coverage of both spacewalks on its YouTube channel.
Nicole McElroy, a Flight Director at NASA, said in a press briefing before the spacewalk that "The road to our preparations for all of these EVAs (extra-vehicular activity) has been going well."
"The crew on board has been studying their procedures, getting familiar with all of the tasks, and are really excited and looking forward to going out the door."
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Despite the setbacks faced by the astronauts in space, they have continued their work aboard the ISS while awaiting a safe return to home.
(With inputs from agencies)