International Space Station astronauts replace old 180kg batteries in first of five spacewalks
- Daunting project involved replacing huge batteries which are essential to operation of the space station’s solar power network
Astronauts hustled through the first of five spacewalks to replace old batteries at the International Space Station on Sunday.
Christina Koch and Andrew Morgan removed three old batteries and installed two new ones delivered just a week ago, getting a jump on future work. These new lithium-ion batteries are so powerful that only one is needed for every two old ones, which are original to the orbiting lab.
“Awesome work today. We have made great progress,” Mission Control radioed. Koch replied: “It has been a wonderful day … we look forward to the rest of the series.”
Koch and Morgan will venture back out Friday for more battery work 250 miles (400km) up.
The 400-pound (180kg) batteries – half the size of a refrigerator – are part of the space station’s solar power network. Astronauts have been upgrading them since 2017 and are now more than halfway done. The old batteries are 10 years old; the new ones are expected to last until the end of the space station’s life, providing vital power on the night side of the Earth. These new batteries are so powerful that only one is needed for every two old ones.
These latest battery swaps are especially difficult given the extreme location on the station’s sprawling frame. It’s too far for the 58-foot (17-meter) robot arm to reach, forcing astronauts to lug the batteries back and forth themselves. That is why so many spacewalks are needed this time to replace 12 old nickel-hydrogen batteries with six new lithium-ion versions.