Two NASA astronauts are starting their Thursday morning with a nice long walk, a spacewalk that is. The astronauts who arrived at the International Space Station less than a week ago are set to step outside of the station around 8:10 a.m. EDT Thursday.
Ricky Arnold and Drew Feustel have both completed spacewalks in the past and are experienced in the practice. Feustel has completed six spacewalks throughout his career totaling more than 42 hours out in space, while Arnold has completed two prior spacewalks totaling more than 12 hours, according to NASA.
.@Astro_Feustel and @Astro_Ricky are both experienced spacewalkers and will embark on the fourth spacewalk of 2018 this Thursday at 8:10am ET. https://t.co/Ffqz7xtErQ pic.twitter.com/NmESd9QlaL
— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) March 27, 2018
The men are headed out into space to conduct work on the station. They're set to leave the Quest Airlock Thursday morning and spend more than six hours outside of the station. The plan is for them to install new wireless communication equipment to enhance data processing for the ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station also called ECOSTRESS, said a release from NASA.
The ECOSTRESS is not yet on the station; it's set to launch on a future SpaceX supply mission to the station later this year, a NASA spokesperson told Newsweek. The system is designed to take temperature measurements of plants all the way down on Earth. The hope is that the data will allow researchers to determine how much water various plants need and their stress responses.
The astronauts will also conduct maintenance on the station's truss, including removing video cameras and old hoses currently mounted on it as part of a cooling component, NASA said. A small ammonia leak was identified last year from an isolation valve on the outside of the ISS, though it was vented and isolated, the astronauts will remove the aging hoses Thursday, said NASA.
Coverage of the walk is expected to begin at 6:30 a.m. EDT as the astronauts prep for their walk and don their spacewalk suits called EMUs or Extravehicular Mobility Units. That coverage will be available on NASA's website on NASA television as well as live on the NASA YouTube channel and here:
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