NASA astronaut Suni Williams, along with astronaut Butch Wilmore, found themselves on the International Space Station, where they undertook a spacewalk on Thursday, marking Williams' first venture outside since her arrival seven months ago.
Originally scheduled to return to Earth in June 2024 following a week-long mission, the astronauts faced a delay due to a technical issue, now pushing their return to late March or possibly April.
During the spacewalk with astronaut Nick Hague, Williams, an experienced spacewalker, worked on tasks such as repairing station orientation equipment, patching light filters on the NICER X-ray telescope, and replacing a reflector device on an international docking adapter. They also inspected access areas and connector tools for future maintenance on the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.
Williams and Wilmore are set for a second spacewalk on 23 January, where they will remove a radio frequency group antenna assembly, gather surface samples for microorganism analysis, and prepare a backup elbow joint for the Canadarm2 robotic arm.
Flight Director Nicole McElroy, in a press briefing, mentioned the crew's readiness and excitement for the upcoming tasks, stating, "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."
The astronauts embarked on what was supposed to be an eight-day mission to the ISS aboard Boeing's Starliner in June 2024, but technical issues prompted NASA to reschedule their return, planning to bring them home via a SpaceX spacecraft in late March. Despite the challenges, Williams and Wilmore have diligently continued their work on the ISS.