NASA astronauts complete spacewalk to replace solar arrays

NASA conducting spacewalk to install new solar arrays

Hundreds of miles away from Earth, two astronauts stepped out of the International Space Station.

Astronauts at the International Space Station were busy Wednesday fixing solar arrays on the station.

The solar arrays reportedly help power the space station and over time, they have started to show some signs of wear and tear. NASA officials said that they are still functioning well though. They were first installed in 2000 and have a service life of about 15 years.

NASA flight engineer Shane Kimbrough and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet installed the first two of six roll-out solar arrays. Ultimately, six of the station's eight power channels will be upgraded. The entire operation took about six and a half hours.

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The new solar arrays will increase the station's total available power.

The next spacewalk will take place on Sunday, June 20th.

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