Two NASA astronauts will perform a spacewalk outside the International Space Station today (Oct. 15), and anyone with an Internet connection can watch it live online.
NASA's Reid Wiseman and Barry Wilmore are scheduled to leave the confines of the space station at about 8:20 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT) to perform maintenance on the orbiting outpost during the 6.5-hour walk in space. You can watch the spacewalk live on Space.com starting at 7 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT) via NASA TV. This will be Wiseman's second spacewalk and Wilmore's first.
"Wiseman and Wilmore will venture out to the starboard truss of the station to remove and replace a power regulator known as a sequential shunt unit, which failed back in mid-May," NASA officials said in a statement. "The two spacewalkers also will move TV and camera equipment in preparation for the relocation of the Leonardo Permanent Multipurpose Module to accommodate the installation of new docking adapters for future commercial crew vehicles."
Wiseman performed his first spacewalk on Oct. 7 with European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst. The two spacewalks this month are part of a series of extravehicular activities (EVAs) that will help prepare the space station for the arrival of private astronaut taxis that could start flying to the space laboratory by 2017.
"We're going to be doing the things we need to do on these EVAs to prep for moving some modules around," Kenny Todd, space station integration operations manager, said during a news conference before the spacewalks. "All that is in preparation for being able to support future [commercial] crewed vehicles coming to station. We're trying to get out in front of that … We'll be prepping for moving modules; we'll be installing a new docking adapter system. All of that will be happening throughout the next several months onboard the station."
Wiseman, Gerst and Wilmore are joined on the space station by three cosmonauts: Maxim Suraev, Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova. The six spaceflyers compose the station's Expedition 41 crew.
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