This is the duo ‘s second spacewalk in just a few days. It’s expected to start around 7 a.m. ET, with live coverage on NASA’s website starting at 5:30 a.m. ET. The spacewalk is expected to take six and a half hours.
It is the second spacewalk for Glover, who has been engaged in his first space flight at the station for a few months.
“What a beautiful view,” Glover said after starting his spacewalk last Wednesday.
This will be the fourth spacewalk for Hopkins, who previously completed two spacewalks during his first six-month stay on the space station from September 2013 to March 2014.
This is the 234th spacewalk to support the assembly, maintenance and upgrades of the space station.
Hopkins will be wearing the spacesuit with red stripes as Crew Member 1 and Glover will be wearing the spacesuit without stripes as Crew Member 2.
The astronauts will install the final lithium-ion battery adapter plate on Monday. They will connect it to the battery, which is installed robotic before the spacewalk. This facility is completing work to complete the replacement of obsolete nickel hydrogen batteries outside the station, which began in January 2017.
Glover and Hopkins then move to the other side of the station to focus on other upgrades. Their work includes replacing an external standard camera with a new high-definition camera in the Destiny lab, and replacing camera and light assembly components required for the Japanese robotic arm’s camera system, which is located outside the Kibo module. They will also run some ethernet cables.
Rubins is tasked with operating the robotic arm from the space station to assist the astronauts while they work outside.
More spacewalks are planned for the crew in late February and early March.
Glover and Rubins will work together for the third spacewalk to prepare the station’s power system to install new solar panels, which will increase the station’s power supply.
Rubins and Noguchi will perform the fourth spacewalk to continue upgrades for the space station.
During these long spacewalks, the astronauts go through alternating cycles of day and night every 45 minutes, both against the hot, bright light of the sun and against the cold darkness of space. This happens because the space station orbits the Earth at 17,500 miles per hour.
While the astronauts don’t feel the direct effects of extreme cold and heat, there is a potential for cooling, so heating elements are installed in the astronauts’ gloves to keep their hands warm, said Vincent LaCourt, NASA’s spacewalk flight director for the spacewalk. February 1.