Two NASA astronauts are spending their Friday working outside the International Space Station.
Commander Chris Cassidy and visiting astronaut Bob Behnken will take part in a spacewalk to replace batteries for one of the power channels of the orbiting lab.
Cassidy will be extravehicular crew member 1 for both spacewalks, wearing the spacesuit with red stripes, while Behnken will be extravehicular crew member 2, wearing the spacesuit with no stripes. It will be the seventh and eighth spacewalks for each astronaut. The spacewalks will be the 228th and 229th in support of space station assembly, maintenance and upgrades.
For almost 20 years, humans have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth that will enable long-duration human and robotic exploration into deep space. As a global endeavor, 239 people from 19 countries have visited the unique microgravity laboratory that has hosted more than 2,800 research investigations from researchers in 108 countries and areas.
Behnken arrived at the I-S-S last month aboard the first crewed Dragon space capsule. He and Doug Hurley will return to Earth and splash down in the Atlantic later this summer.
Image courtesy Getty