On this day in space: April 7, 1983: 1st Spacewalk from Space Shuttle

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On April 7, 1983, astronauts took the first spacewalk outside of a space shuttle during mission STS-6.

On April 7, 1983, astronauts took the first spacewalk outside of a space shuttle during mission STS-6. This was the maiden voyage of the space shuttle Challenger.

STS-6 crewmates Don Peterson (at right) and Story Musgrave perform the first shuttle-era spacewalk outside Challenger in 1983.

STS-6 crewmates Don Peterson (at right) and Story Musgrave perform the first shuttle-era spacewalk outside Challenger in 1983. (Image credit: NASA)

NASA astronauts Don Peterson and Story Musgrave spent 4 hours and 17 minutes working in the vacuum of space while doing a series of tests in the shuttle's payload bay. This was also the first time that NASA's Extravehicular Mobility Unit spacesuit was worn by astronauts in space.

On This Day in Space: See our full 365-day video archive!

Hanneke Weitering
Hanneke Weitering
Contributing expert

Hanneke Weitering is a multimedia journalist in the Pacific Northwest reporting on the future of aviation at FutureFlight.aero and Aviation International News and was previously the Editor for Spaceflight and Astronomy news here at Space.com. As an editor with over 10 years of experience in science journalism she has previously written for Scholastic Classroom Magazines, MedPage Today and The Joint Institute for Computational Sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. After studying physics at the University of Tennessee in her hometown of Knoxville, she earned her graduate degree in Science, Health and Environmental Reporting (SHERP) from New York University. Hanneke joined the Space.com team in 2016 as a staff writer and producer, covering topics including spaceflight and astronomy. She currently lives in Seattle, home of the Space Needle, with her cat and two snakes. In her spare time, Hanneke enjoys exploring the Rocky Mountains, basking in nature and looking for dark skies to gaze at the cosmos. 

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