"Space Station Operates Even Amid COVID-19"

SpaceX Crew Dragon Astronauts Conduct First Spacewalk of the Year

Astronaut Victor Glover of NASA performing a spacewalk. Photo by NASA website.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] "Despite COVID-19, the space station keeps running."

Last November, astronauts who boarded the Crew Dragon spacecraft from the space exploration company SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, began full-scale activities aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

According to NASA on the 3rd, two NASA astronauts, Mike Hopkins and Victor Glover, conducted a spacewalk on the 27th of last month to install a high-speed data link outside the ISS European Lab. This was their first activity this year after boarding the ISS aboard the Crew Dragon, the first crewed spacecraft launched by the private sector. Hopkins, a veteran with experience in two previous spacewalks, recorded his third spacewalk in his career that day. For Glover, it was his first-ever experience. The two astronauts started work around 6:28 a.m. and safely returned after more than six hours of spacewalking until 1:30 p.m.

They also went outside the space station on the 1st to install a high-resolution camera and upgrade batteries. Although they started the spacewalk later than the scheduled 7:56 a.m., they demonstrated skilled performance and even completed tasks planned for future operations. The work lasted 5 hours and 20 minutes and was completed around 1:16 p.m.

The spacewalk conducted that day was the 234th maintenance operation performed on the space station. Their work was supported by fellow astronauts who boarded the Crew Dragon and entered the space station, including NASA astronaut Shannon Walker and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi. Additionally, astronauts aboard the Soyuz spacecraft launched last October, including NASA's Kate Rubins and Russia's Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, operated the robotic arm and collaborated on the tasks.

Vincent Racotte, NASA's Director of Extravehicular Activity and Flight Operations, who led the operation, told CNN, "While astronauts do not directly feel severe cold during external work, they can potentially experience cold. To prepare for this, heaters are installed in the astronauts' gloves to keep their hands warm."

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