International Space Station | Stranded Astronauts conduct Spacewalk

Stranded Astronauts From Starliner, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore Go Out of the International Space Station for a Spacewalk, Perform Maintenance and a Science Experiment
International Space Station - The station was orbiting above London, England, as the Canadarm2 robotic arm maneuvered Astro Suni to continue removing radio communications hardware. Watch now on @NASA

“The veteran NASA astronauts removed radio communications hardware, called the radio frequency group, which is an S-band antenna that was previously unable to be released during two previous spacewalks. The duo used a unique wrench tool to remove the bolts securing the hardware to the exterior of the space station. The radio communications hardware will be returned to Earth and refurbished on the ground.

As Williams cleaned up the work site where the removal took place, Wilmore moved on to swab different places outside the space station for the ISS External Microorganisms experiment, which focuses on collecting samples near life support system vents to see whether the space station releases microorganisms.”

NASA is following the strict requirements for ‘planetary protections’, limiting human contamination of space environments, and preventing contaminants from returning to Earth.

Scientists want to understand if any microorganisms are being released into space by the orbiting laboratory, if and how they can survive and reproduce in the cosmic environment.