Kutryk, Menon install last solar array on space station

Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk completed his second spacewalk on Thursday, spending six hours and 59 minutes outside the International Space Station to install the eighth and final roll-out solar array and finish a multi-year power upgrade.

Kutryk, of the Canadian Space Agency, and NASA astronaut Anil Menon ended the spacewalk at 3:35 p.m. ET, NASA said. The pair installed and deployed the array on the station’s 3B power channel.

NASA said work to boost the station’s power began in February 2021, and astronauts have since completed 18 spacewalks to prepare power channel equipment and install the eight arrays. Together, the roll-out arrays raise the station’s power generation capacity from 160 kilowatts to about 215 kilowatts.

The outing was Menon’s fifth spacewalk and Kutryk’s second. NASA counted it as the 286th spacewalk in support of station assembly, maintenance and upgrades.

NASA astronaut Nichole Stilwell served as spacewalk communicator from Houston, and the Canadian Press reported that she congratulated the crew. NASA’s Luke Delaney and Jessica Watkins were inside the station during the spacewalk.

The Alberta-born astronaut launched on a six-month mission to the station at the start of October. He became the fifth Canadian to perform a spacewalk on Oct. 29, when he and Menon installed the seventh of the eight new arrays, NASA reported.

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