(Update: Spacewalk concludes) Space station gears up for a pair of spacewalks this week

The Expedition 68 crew is gearing up for a pair of spacewalks this week at the International Space Station (ISS).

NASA astronauts Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio will exit the space station on Tuesday, November 15, for a spacewalk to continue upgrading the station's power generation system. The duo will exit the space station after setting their spacesuits to battery power at 8 a.m. EST, signifying the start of their spacewalk. They will spend about seven hours assembling a mounting bracket to enable the future installation of rollout solar arrays, which will augment the space station's power generation system.

For the unversed, NASA halted U.S. Operating Segment spacewalks after a thin layer of moisture was discovered in March 2022 inside ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Matthias Maurer's helmet. Last month, the agency completed an investigation into the cause of the incident and approved the return to routine spacewalks.

During the investigation, the space station team completed a detailed test, teardown, and evaluation of the water samples and suit hardware to determine what led to the observed water, which was more than normal, in the helmet.

Next up, on Thursday, November 17, Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin will exit the space station to work on the outside of the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module. The pair from Roscosmos will spend about seven hours preparing a radiator for transfer from the Rassvet module to Nauka.

The upcoming spacewalks will air live on NASA TV on the agency's app and official website. Tuesday's spacewalk coverage will begin at 6:30 a.m. while Thursday's spacewalk coverage will begin at 9 a.m., the agency said.

The Exp 68 crew is gearing up for spacewalks on Tuesday and Thursday this week at the space station. https://t.co/uc9v0kl14f

— International Space Station (@Space_Station) November 14, 2022

Update 1

Cassada and Rubio of NASA began a spacewalk at 9:14 a.m. EST to assemble a mounting bracket on the starboard side of the station’s truss assembly.

Update 2

The duo concluded their spacewalk at 4:25 p.m. EST after 7 hours and 11 minutes.