NASA reschedules spacewalk of astronauts to December 2 post delay due to space debris

NASA has rescheduled its spacewalk for Thursday, December 2 after it was postponed due to the threat posed by space debris to the astronauts and the International Space Station (ISS). The spacewalk was previously scheduled for Tuesday, November 30, however, assessment of the orbit prompted NASA to delay the spacewalk which was to be conducted by two astronauts — Kayla Barron and Thomas Mashburn. The duo has been assigned the job to fix the antenna of the ISS required for communication purposes.

NASA gives a go-ahead to the astronauts for a spacewalk

Just a day earlier, the agency informed that it received a debris notification ahead of the spacewalk. Besides, NASA also was unable to properly determine the level of risk astronauts could face due to the space junk, prompting them to delay the antenna-fixing mission. “Due to the lack of opportunity to properly assess the risk it could pose to the astronauts, teams have decided to delay the spacewalk until more information is available. The space station schedule and operations are able to easily accommodate the delay of the spacewalk,” the agency had said in its statement. However, it is still unclear that the delay was a result of Russia’s antisatellite missile test which drew massive global criticism. 

Meanwhile, a blog published by NASA today, revealed that the orbit of the debris no longer poses any threat to the space station and the astronauts. “After receiving additional information about a late notification debris event on Monday, NASA determined the orbit of the debris does not pose a risk to a scheduled spacewalk by Thomas Marshburn and Kayla Barron or to International Space Station operations. Delaying the spacewalk provided an opportunity for NASA to evaluate the risk from the debris notification,” said the blog.

Barron and Mashburn gear up for a six-hour spacewalk

Both the astronauts will leave their hatch to fix the faulty communication in the operation that would last for six hours without any food or toilet breaks. Besides, if the astronauts complete their mission before the said time, they might even be assigned extra activities such as replacing the light or lens cover. It is worth mentioning, that the duo will encounter multiple sunsets and sunrises since the space station orbits the Earth every 90 minutes.

(Image: Twitter/@NASA)