U.S. spacewalk 101: Astronauts Anil Menon and Joshua Kutryk unfurl the final ISS roll-out solar array

The final power upgrade spacewalk lasted almost 7 hours, with the installation completing a five-year effort to upgrade the ISS' power supply.
BY LAKSHMI KOLA
UPDATED 1 HOUR AGO
A roll-out solar array unfurls after spacewalkers Joshua Kutryk and Anil Menon installed it on the International Space Station’s starboard truss structure. (Cover Image Source: NASA+; Resized by Starlust staff)
A roll-out solar array unfurls after spacewalkers Joshua Kutryk and Anil Menon installed it on the International Space Station’s starboard truss structure. (Cover Image Source: NASA+; Resized by Starlust staff)

The International Space Station (ISS) got a major power upgrade yesterday, November 5, with the installation of the eighth and final International Space Station roll-out solar array (IROSA). The installation was carried out by NASA astronaut Anil Menon and the Canadian Space Agency's Joshua Kutryk during U.S. spacewalk 101. It was Menon's fifth spacewalk, Kutryk's second, and the 18th conducted since 2021 to augment the station's power supply.

Retired CSA astronaut and Artemis II mission specialist Jeremy Hansen took to X to congratulate the astronauts, commending fellow Canadian Kutryk especially for completing his second spacewalk. "Another proud day for the Canada flag as Kutryk takes the maple leaf out into the vacuum of space on his second spacewalk with Anil Menon to install the last new solar array," he wrote.

The six-hour, 59-minute event, which began at 8:36 a.m. EST and concluded at 3:35 p.m., was not entirely smooth and had its share of complications. After extracting the final solar array, weighing 750 pounds (340 kilograms), from its temporary storage unit, Kutryk and Menon transferred it to the installation location using the Canadarm2 robotic arm. While Menon was connecting the electrical cables of the array, a glitch was encountered, with the Mission Control officers observing only half of the required shunt current, which hindered the deployment of the array. The crew started inspecting the connectors to resolve the issue, and as the solar arrays generate power in the presence of sunlight, the astronauts waited till the ISS passed through the Earth's shadow. Finally, satisfactory shunt currents were detected after troubleshooting, and Kutryk and Menon released two bolts to unfurl the IROSA.

With the deployment of this array on the 3B power channel on the starboard side of the truss structure, the ISS' power generation capacity has increased by approximately 30%, from 160 kilowatts to around 215 kilowatts. This additional power will aid in sustaining the orbiting laboratory's operations for the rest of its service period and also help in gearing up for eventual deorbit, currently scheduled for 2030.

From left, Astronauts Joshua Kutryk of CSA (Canadian Space Agency) and Anil Menon of NASA conduct spacewalk training at Johnson Space Center’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston, Texas. (Image Source: NASA)

Menon and Kutryk also installed the seventh IROSA during U.S. Spacewalk 100 on Thursday, October 29, which happened to be the first spacewalk for the Canadian. The IROSA chapter began with a technology demonstration outside the ISS in 2017. But it wasn't until 2021 that the first operational roll-out array was installed. By 2023, the station had six at its disposal, while the final pair arrived just last month aboard the SpaceX 35th commercial resupply services mission.

With the completion of the station's final power boost, NASA is set to conduct its next spacewalks in January to upgrade the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer—a cosmic-ray detector deployed on the ISS' truss—as announced by Gaurang Patel, operations integration manager for NASA’s Low Earth Orbit Program, in an October 20 briefing.

More on Starlust

NASA astronaut Anil Menon's new video offers stunning look at newly installed solar arrays on ISS

Three NASA astronauts just voted in the U.S. midterm elections from the International Space Station

MORE STORIES

SpaceX's Starship Flight 15 delayed by a day, now likely to launch on November 13
SPACEFLIGHT

SpaceX's Starship Flight 15 delayed by a day, now likely to launch on November 13

Flight 15 will be SpaceX’s most important mission to date as it is aiming to catch both stages of Starship using the ‘Mechazilla’ launch tower’s chopstick arms.
2 hours ago
End of an era: NASA’s Swift telescope burns up in Earth's atmosphere after 22 years in orbit
SPACEFLIGHT

End of an era: NASA’s Swift telescope burns up in Earth's atmosphere after 22 years in orbit

The legacy Swift left behind includes observation of over 2,000 gamma-ray bursts, while the data it gathered contributed to over 7,000 research papers.
21 hours ago
Artemis II left temporary holes in Earth’s upper atmosphere that could have affected GPS, new study finds
SPACEFLIGHT

Artemis II left temporary holes in Earth’s upper atmosphere that could have affected GPS, new study finds

The disturbances were stronger than any other rocket launch has caused so far and large enough that they could have triggered brief, localized errors in GPS positioning.
1 day ago
'It’s always sunny in space': NASA's Anil Menon, CSA's Joshua Kutryk feature in stunning images from U.S. spacewalk 100
SPACEFLIGHT

'It’s always sunny in space': NASA's Anil Menon, CSA's Joshua Kutryk feature in stunning images from U.S. spacewalk 100

October 29 saw NASA's Anil Menon and CSA's Joshua Kutryk install the seventh IROSA outside the ISS during what was the 100th U.S. spacewalk. It was also a particularly good day for photographs.
1 day ago
Three NASA astronauts just voted in the U.S. midterm elections from the International Space Station
SPACEFLIGHT

Three NASA astronauts just voted in the U.S. midterm elections from the International Space Station

In a video shared on X, NASA astronaut Anil Menon shared his voting experience from aboard the International Space Station.
2 days ago
Astronauts Anil Menon and Joshua Kutryk to install the last ISS roll-out solar array on Thursday: All you need to know about the spacewalk
SPACEFLIGHT

Astronauts Anil Menon and Joshua Kutryk to install the last ISS roll-out solar array on Thursday: All you need to know about the spacewalk

The spacewalk on Thursday will be the culmination of nearly a decade's worth of work and will boost the International Space Station's power generation capacity by about 30%.
2 days ago
NASA’s Mars-bound ESCAPADE twins to conduct historic flyby of Earth soon: Here's how to spot it from the U.S.
SPACEFLIGHT

NASA’s Mars-bound ESCAPADE twins to conduct historic flyby of Earth soon: Here's how to spot it from the U.S.

NASA's twin ESCAPADE spacecraft are going to do something later this month that no Mars-bound spacecraft has done before. And skywatchers in the U.S. may be able to witness it.
3 days ago
Watch: Rocket Lab launches 10th iQPS radar satellite on its 99th mission
SPACEFLIGHT

Watch: Rocket Lab launches 10th iQPS radar satellite on its 99th mission

Of Rocket Lab’s 99 launches, 90 were Electron flights, and nine used HASTE, a suborbital version.
3 days ago
Three taikonauts, two rockets, one giant leap: China's bold plan to put humans on the Moon before 2030
SPACEFLIGHT

Three taikonauts, two rockets, one giant leap: China's bold plan to put humans on the Moon before 2030

While China has successfully landed robotic spacecraft on the Moon through its robotic Chang'e lunar exploration program, it has never landed astronauts there.
3 days ago
NASA's CHAPEA 2 crew 'returns' to Earth after 378 days in Mars habitat: "It's been a hell of a year"
SPACEFLIGHT

NASA's CHAPEA 2 crew 'returns' to Earth after 378 days in Mars habitat: "It's been a hell of a year"

The crew members lived and worked inside a 1,700-square-foot habitat at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, performing activities ranging from simulated spacewalks to dealing with communication glitches in a Martian environment.
4 days ago