Story at a glance
- Astronauts Tom Marshburn and Kayla Barron replaced a faulty antenna outside the International Space Station Thursday.
- NASA said Tuesday morning it was postponing the spacewalk due to a “lack of opportunity to properly assess the risk it could pose to the astronauts.”
- In mid-November, Russia without warning carried out an anti-satellite missile test which created a debris field in low-Earth orbit.
NASA astronauts on Thursday made their way outside the International Space Station (ISS) to replace a faulty antenna after the mission was previously postponed due to orbiting space junk.
Astronauts Tom Marshburn and Kayla Barron, who arrived at the space station in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule just last month, kicked off the six-and-a-half hour spacewalk this morning to remove a defective 20-year-old S-band radio communications antenna and replace it with a spare.
The spacewalk was initially scheduled for Tuesday but was delayed by NASA after the space agency received a “debris notification” from the ISS.
NASA said Tuesday morning it was postponing the spacewalk due to a “lack of opportunity to properly assess the risk it could pose to the astronauts.”
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In mid-November, Russia without warning carried out an anti-satellite missile test which created a debris field in low-Earth orbit. The incident prompted ISS crew members to temporarily take shelter.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson at the time said he was “outraged by this irresponsible and destabilizing action.”
NASA has not confirmed whether the spacewalk delay was a consequence of the anti-satellite missile test, according to The Associated Press (AP).
Marshburn, 61, became the oldest person to carry out a spacewalk, which was also the fourth of his career, while Barron completed her first, according to AP.
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