Mission Reports

Station astronauts complete tedious spacewalk

Space station commander Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren carried out a tedious seven-hour 16-minute spacewalk Wednesday, installing cables needed for a new docking mechanism, mounting insulation panels on a physics experiment to improve cooling and lubricating the latching mechanism of the station’s robot arm.

Mission Reports

Astronauts munch on space-grown lettuce

Amid a Russian spacewalk to carry out routine maintenance and inspections outside the International Space Station, two NASA astronauts and a Japanese crewmate staged a culinary first in orbit — harvesting and eating a few leaves of leafy, space-grown red romaine lettuce.

News

NASA approves Sunday spacewalk

International Space Station managers Friday cleared astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Terry Virts to proceed with a third spacewalk Sunday, as originally planned, after concluding a small amount of water in Virts’ space helmet after an EVA Wednesday was an understood condition and not a threat to crew safety.

Mission Reports

Successful spacewalk ends with water leak

Astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Terry Virts floated outside the International Space Station Wednesday for the second of three spacewalks to help ready the complex for dockings by commercial crew capsules. Back inside the station’s airlock, Virts reported a small amount of water in his space helmet, but officials said he was not in any danger.