Sunita Williams, the commander of the International Space Station (ISS), conducted her first spacewalk in more than seven months on Thursday, January 16.
As per multiple outlets, she was accompanied by NASA astronaut Nick Hague to perform a necessary repair task outside the ISS.
Sunita, who launched to space last June with astronaut Butch Wilmore aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule, had initially intended for her mission to last just a week.
However, due to problems with the Starliner capsule, Sunita and Wilmore mission was extended and NASA decided to send the capsule back to Earth without passengers.
Also, delays in SpaceX’s launch of a replacement crew added more time to their stay, and they will now remain in space until March or early April.
NASA has not revealed the exact date when Sunita and Wilmore will return to Earth.
The spacewalk conducted by Sunita and Nick was the first one since NASA astronauts had to cancel a spacewalk last summer.
The cancellation was due to an airlock leak caused by a malfunction in the cooling system of the astronaut’s suits.
NASA has since fixed the issue, allowing Sunita and Nick to continue with their outdoor tasks on the ISS.
As per the reports, the spacewalk conducted by Sunita was her eight, which is a notable achievement for her.
