Indian-origin Anil Menon completed a 6-hour 59-minute spacewalk
CNN Central News & Networks / ITDC India ePress / ITDC News / Agencies, Bhopal:
Indian-origin American astronaut Anil Menon has achieved another important milestone in space. Along with Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk, he carried out a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) for about 6 hours and 59 minutes. The operation, completed on November 5, 2026, was the final phase of an upgrade mission being carried out to increase the station’s power generation capacity.
Eighth solar array installed on the space station
During the mission, the two astronauts installed the eighth and final roll-out solar array on the International Space Station’s 3B power channel. The station’s large robotic arm, Canadarm2, was used for this work. Menon played an important role in moving the solar array to the correct location and installing it.
Power capacity to increase by up to 30 percent
According to NASA, under this campaign that began in 2021, a total of eight new roll-out solar arrays were to be installed on the station. With their completion, the space station’s power generation capacity is expected to rise from about 160 kilowatts to 215 kilowatts. This will provide the station with about 30 percent additional power and help run scientific experiments and other activities more effectively.
Another important space mission for Menon
Anil Menon and Joshua Kutryk had earlier also carried out a spacewalk of about 7 hours and 11 minutes on October 29. During that operation, they installed another solar array on the station’s 2A power channel. Through two consecutive missions, both astronauts have contributed to modernising the station’s energy system.
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