Astronauts begin spacewalk to install roll-out solar arrays on ISS

NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk began a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday to install and deploy a roll-out solar array, reported Xinhua.

The spacewalk began at 7:57 a.m. Eastern Time, and was expected to last more than six and a half hours, according to NASA.

The new solar array, to be installed on the station's 2A electrical power channel, will be the seventh ISS roll-out solar array. It will provide additional power to support critical station operations, including the station's safe and controlled deorbit, NASA said.

The spacewalk marks Menon's fourth and Kutryk's first. It is also the 285th spacewalk supporting ISS assembly, maintenance and upgrades, according to NASA.