Two NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) are about to don their spacesuits and enter the vacuum of space. You can follow the event live.
NASA’s first spacewalk in nearly a year begins at around 8 a.m. ET on Wednesday, March 18. Read on to find out all the details on how to watch him.
Americans Jessica Meir and Chris Williams will exit the station’s Quest airlock to conduct work as part of preparations for a future roll-out solar array to improve the station’s power supply.
It will be Meir’s fourth spacewalk and Williams’ first. The pair have spent the last few days preparing their spacesuits and equipment, as well as finalizing the configuration of the tools they will use during the spacewalks.
Wednesday’s spacewalk also happens to coincide with the 61st anniversary of the first spacewalk in 1965, when Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov left his spacecraft for about 10 minutes during the Voskhod-2 mission. Later that same year, during the Gemini 4 mission, Ed White became the first NASA astronaut to achieve the same feat.
Here’s how to watch
NASA’s live coverage begins Wednesday, March 18, at 6:30 a.m. ET. The astronauts will exit the Quest airlock around 8 a.m. ET. and will remain outside the ISS for approximately six and a half hours.
You can watch the coverage using the video player embedded at the top of this page. NASA+, Amazon Prime and the agency’s YouTube channel will also broadcast the same live feed.
What to expect
You’ll see live views from multiple cameras positioned outside the station, including the astronauts’ helmet cameras. You can also listen in on live communications between the astronauts and mission control on Earth. Continuous commentary will also explain exactly what happens as the spacewalk progresses.
