On May 1, two NASA astronauts made history by performing the fifth all-female spacewalk, carrying out key upgrades to the International Space Station (ISS) and preparing for future improvements.
Expedition 73 crewmates Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers spent 5 hours and 44 minutes outside the station, beginning their extravehicular activity (EVA) at 9:05 a.m. EDT (1305 GMT) and concluding at 2:49 p.m. EDT (1849 GMT) when they re-entered the Quest airlock.
While they completed most of their objectives, time constraints and limited resources meant a few tasks were postponed to a later spacewalk.
Their primary mission focused on setting up hardware for the upcoming installation of the seventh set of ISS Rollout Solar Arrays (IROSA). These new arrays, which are scheduled to arrive later this year aboard a SpaceX Dragon resupply mission, will enhance the station’s power output by up to 30%, increasing total available energy from 160 to 215 kilowatts.
McClain and Ayers successfully assembled and attached the upper triangle of the mast canister modification kit, along with the right-side struts. However, they were later instructed to wrap up early and shift focus to a higher-priority task.
“We have reached the minimum configuration and have decided to clean up and prioritize the C2V2 [Common Communications for Visiting Vehicles],” mission control at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston informed the crew.
The astronauts then turned their attention to relocating an antenna used by Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft, which supports ISS resupply missions. They completed the antenna move at the P3 truss on the port side of the station.
With limited EVA time remaining, McClain and Ayers addressed a few “get-ahead” tasks. Ayers installed a jumper cable to enable DC power transfer from the U.S. P6 truss to the Russian segment, while McClain began loosening bolts on a debris shield in preparation for future work.
Upon completing the EVA, Ayers reflected on the significance of their mission:
“With this year marking the 25th anniversary of continuous human presence in space, it’s fitting that we’re continuing to enhance the ISS for operations through 2030,” she said. “We’re proud to play a small role in the larger mission of supporting the pioneering science happening aboard the ISS.”
She added, “What we do up here not only supports future missions to the Moon and Mars, but also benefits life on Earth.”
This marked McClain’s third spacewalk, bringing her total EVA time to 18 hours and 52 minutes, while it was the first EVA for Ayers.
Overall, this was the 93rd spacewalk conducted from the U.S. Quest airlock and the 275th EVA dedicated to assembling, maintaining, and upgrading the International Space Station, which has hosted astronauts continuously since November 2000.
NASA’s first all-female spacewalk was completed by Christina Koch and Jessica Meir in October 2019. That duo completed two additional spacewalks in January 2020, followed by another all-female EVA by Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara in November 2023.