NASA All Women Spacewalk For Second Time Surpasses Helmet Glitch

The second all women spacewalk continued to make history as the same two NASA astronauts - Jessica Meir and Christina Koch spacewalked to upgrade the batteries outside the International Space Station. The duo completed a seven-and-a-half hour extravehicular activity (EVA) or simply spacewalk on January 15.

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Spacewalk For Battery Replacement

The spacewalk was an important one as it involved replacing batteries that store power for a part of ISS's electricity-generating solar arrays. The spacewalk is a continuation of a similar task performed by the same female flight engineers.

The astronauts removed the three degraded nickel-hydrogen batteries and replaced them with two more powerful lithium-ion batteries for the space station's port. It is the part situated on the left side that contains the outboard solar arrays. The old batteries, which have been functioning for the most part of the past decade, were stowed away.

As part of the spacewalk, the older batteries were stowed on an external pallet, which would then be disposed off. The adapter plates were then installed to enable the new batteries to function with the space station's laboratory power system.

Second All Women Spacewalk Successful

This is the second time NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch spacewalked together. The first time grabbed headlines worldwide and marked a milestone for women astronauts. "It was truly amazing for Christina and me to be back out here today. We have been talking about it a lot and it was really something we were looking forward to," Meir said during the live broadcast of the spacewalk.

Almost everything went according to schedule, except for a minor glitch Koch's spacesuit. Koch's helmet lights weren't attached and the camera was also detached from the helmet. Meir tried to reattach the light assembly, but the lock wouldn't come into place. The lights are an important part for a spacewalk, as it visually aids when ISS is in the Earth's shadow and not lit by the Sun.

The spacewalk, however, continued with Koch staying close to Meir, using the lights attached to her helmet. The spacewalk was a successful one and the duo are scheduled for another one on January 20.