Astronauts Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio spent seven hours outside the International Space Station Thursday, successfully installing a fourth set of roll-out solar array blankets in an ongoing $103 million power system upgrade.
of a small hole in the Soyuz MS-22/68S spacecraft. The damage and subsequent coolant leak apparently were caused by a micrometeoroid or space debris impact last week that ruptured a radiator coolant line.
Back aboard the ISS, Cassada and Rubio switched their spacesuits to battery power at 8:19 a.m. EST Thursday, officially kicking off the 257th spacewalk devoted to station assembly and maintenance, and the 12th this year. The new ISS Roll-Out Solar Array blankets unroll after installation, extending in front of an original-equipment array in the background. The new IROSA blankets are smaller than the space station's original solar wings, but they are more efficient and will eventually generate an additional 120 kilowatts of power.The eight sets of blankets deliver electricity to eight main circuits, or power channels, during daylight to operate the lab's systems and to recharge batteries.
The first two IROSA blankets were installed on the left-side outboard arrays — the oldest set on the station — during spacewalks in 2021. Cassada and Rubio carried out two earlier spacewalks to install mounting brackets, and one of the two new IROSAs on a right-side inboard wing to augment power channel 3A.
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