Two astronauts complete spacewalk after spacesuit limits mobility

A nearly seven-hour spacewalk outside the International Space Station ended safely after a problem with Sophie Adenot’s spacesuit restricted movement in her left arm. NASA astronaut Jessica Meir identified a heater harness on one of Adenot’s gloves as the likely cause after it appeared to catch and limit her colleague’s shoulder movement.

Opening the zipper on the affected joint seemed to fix the problem before both astronauts returned to the station’s airlock. The excursion ended at 3:29 p.m. Eastern time, or 19:29 GMT, about 20 minutes later than planned.

Meir and Adenot installed a reflector designed to make it easier for visiting spacecraft to dock. They also replaced a high-definition camera and collected a sample from the outside of the orbital laboratory to search for microorganisms.

The delay forced mission control to defer the installation of bolts that will guide a new radiator for the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a cosmic-particle detector mounted outside the station. Ground controllers also postponed the remaining electrical jumper cables and other nonessential work.

The spacewalk was the 99th involving a U.S. astronaut, Meir’s seventh and Adenot’s third. Adenot became the first French woman to conduct a spacewalk on Aug. 18. Meir now ranks third among NASA astronauts for the number of spacewalks, behind Peggy Whitson with 10 and Suni Williams with nine.

It was also the 284th spacewalk supporting the station’s assembly, maintenance and upgrades. Meir worked from the Canadarm2 robotic arm, operated from inside by astronaut Anil Menon, while Adenot moved along the exterior of the laboratory while tethered.

The outing marked the station’s fourth spacewalk in less than a month, following three in August. The ISS has operated since 1998 and is scheduled for dismantling in 2030 with help from SpaceX. Private companies are expected to replace it with commercial orbital stations.