NASA Announces Spacewalkers for Robotic Arm Repair Work

Spacewalk preparations filled the schedule aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday as a pair of astronauts gear up for next week’s external robotics repair job. Flight engineers Chris Williams and Jessica Meir will wear their spacesuits and work together in the vacuum of space to repair a wrist joint on the Canadarm2 robotic arm starting at 7:35 a.m.

EDT on Tuesday, June 30. They will spend about six hours and 40 minutes replacing the malfunctioned wrist joint on Canadarm2 that has been in operation for over 25 years. Williams tried on his spacesuit and tested it in its powered configuration with assistance from Sophie Adenot.

The two worked inside the Quest airlock checking the suit’s comfort, mobility, communications and life support systems while engineers on the ground monitored. Williams then joined Meir to review a 3D interactive animation of the procedures they will use to return the Canadarm2 to full motion.

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