The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Wednesday shared photos of two astronauts, Sunita Williams and Nick Hague, suiting up for their upcoming spacewalk on social media platform X.
The photos were taken inside the International Space Station last week, when Williams and Hague wore the spacesuits for a “fit check.”
“NASA astronauts @AstroHague and @Astro_Suni arrive inside the @Space_Station last week for a fitness check ahead of their 6.5-hour spacewalk this Thursday,” NASA said.
NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Nick Hague will perform two spacewalks – US Spacewalk 91 on Thursday, January 16 and US Spacewalk 92 on Thursday, January 23. Astronauts perform work aboard the space station, including repairs on NASA’s NICER X-ray telescope. Updates to the Canadarm2 robotic arm.
The first spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 8 am (6:30 pm IST) on January 16 and will last for about six and a half hours. NASA will provide live coverage at 6:30 a.m. ET on NASA+. The second spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 8:15 am (6:45 pm IST) on January 23 and will last for about six and a half hours. NASA will provide live coverage at 6:45 a.m. ET on NASA+.
When will Sunita Williams return to Earth?
Sunita Williams will return to Earth as part of NASA’s four-member SpaceX Crew 9, which cannot return home until Crew 10 — its replacement — is launched into space.
Recently the Crew 10 launch was delayed by NASA. It was to be launched in February 2025. But Crew 10 is now expected to launch in late March 2025.
With their delay, it is expected that the two Starliner astronauts “stranded” in space, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, will not return until late March or April.
Four members of Crew 9 – Nick Hague and Alexander Grubonov, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore – will now return after a brief handover with Crew 10. Crew 9 was launched into space on September 29.
