NASA to cover two spacewalks, hold preview news conference

Editor’s note: This announcement was updated on January 13, 2025 to reflect new live coverage and start times for US spacewalk 92.

Editor’s Note: This guide was updated on January 10, 2025 to reflect new live coverage and start times for both spacewalks.

Editor’s note: This announcement was updated on January 10, 2025 to add the names of the astronauts participating in US spacewalk 92.

Two NASA astronauts will venture outside the International Space Station and complete US spacewalk 91 on Thursday, January 16 and US spacewalk 92 on Thursday, January 23 to complete station upgrades.

NASA will also discuss the upcoming spacewalks during a press conference at 2:00 PM EST Friday, January 10th NASA+ from the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Learn how to view NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

Participants in the NASA Johnson news conference include:

• Bill Spetch, Operations Integration Manager
• Nicole McElroy, director of spacewalks

Media interested in participating in person or by phone should contact the NASA Johnson newsroom no later than 10 a.m. Wednesday, January 8 at: 281-483-5111 or [email protected]. To ask questions, the media must call in no later than 15 minutes before the start of the news conference. A copy of NASA’s Media Accreditation Policy is online. Questions can also be asked on social media using #AskNASA.

The first spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 8 on January 16 and last about six and a half hours. NASA will provide live coverage from 06.30 NASA+.

NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Suni Williams will replace a velocity gyro unit that helps provide orientation control to the station, install patches to cover damaged areas of light filters for an X-ray telescope called POUNDER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer), and replace a reflector unit used for navigation data on one of the international docking adapters. In addition, the pair will check access areas and connection tools that will be used for future maintenance work on the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.

Hague will serve as Spacewalk Crew Member 1 and will wear a suit with red stripes. Williams will serve as Spacewalk Crew Member 2 and will wear an unmarked suit. This will be the fourth for Haag and the eighth for Williams. It will be the 273rd spacewalk in support of space station assembly, maintenance and upgrades.

The second spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 8:15 on January 23 and last about six and a half hours. NASA will provide live coverage from 6:45 NASA+.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will remove a radio frequency array antenna assembly from the station’s truss, collect samples of surface material for analysis from the Destiny laboratory and the Quest airlock to see if microorganisms can exist on the outside of the orbital complex, and prepare an additional elbow joint to the Canadarm2 robotic arm in case it is needed for a replacement. It will be the 274th spacewalk in support of space station assembly, maintenance and upgrades.

Learn more about research and operations on the International Space Station at:

-end-

Claire O’Shea
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
claire.a.o’[email protected]

Sandra Jones
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
[email protected]