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Anil Menon to take first spacewalk on Aug. 6
The Aug. 6 mission will be the first of three spacewalks planned by NASA to upgrade the International Space Station.
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Malvika Choudhary - Wed, 29, Jul 2026
- 13:32 EDT
- 51
Anil Menon / NASA
Indian-American NASA astronaut Anil Menon is set to take his first spacewalk on Aug. 6.
He will be joined by fellow astronaut Jessica Meir as part of an effort to upgrade the International Space Station's power system.
Also Read: NASA astronaut Menon shares trickiest part of being in space
Menon and Meir will exit the International Space Station (ISS) through the Quest airlock during U.S. spacewalk 96 to install hardware that will modify the station's 3B power channel and prepare it for the installation of the seventh International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array (IROSA), scheduled for delivery later this year.
The new solar array will provide additional electrical power to support critical station operations, including preparations for the ISS's safe and controlled deorbit, NASA said.
NASA's live coverage of the spacewalk will begin at 7 a.m. EDT on Aug. 6. The excursion is scheduled to start at 8:35 a.m. EDT and last about six and a half hours.
The outing will mark Meir's sixth spacewalk and Menon's first. Meir will serve as spacewalk crew member 1, wearing a suit with red stripes, while Menon will serve as crew member 2 in an unmarked spacesuit.
The Aug. 6 excursion is the first of three U.S. spacewalks planned for August. NASA said the remaining spacewalks will focus on replacing a space-to-ground communications antenna and connecting power and data cables in support of ongoing station operations and future upgrades.
Together, the three excursions will be the 281st, 282nd, and 283rd spacewalks conducted in support of ISS assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.
Menon arrived at the ISS on July 14 aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft with cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina.
During his approximately eight-month mission, he is conducting scientific research and technology demonstrations, including studies on blood flow in microgravity, semiconductor crystal growth, augmented reality-assisted ultrasound, and bioprinting vascular tissue to support future deep-space missions and medical research on Earth.
A physician, engineer, and former NASA flight surgeon, Menon was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2021 after serving as SpaceX's first flight surgeon, where he helped build the company's medical support program for human spaceflight.
Ahead of the mission, Menon shared a glimpse of his preparations in an Instagram post, describing training with NASA's extravehicular activity (EVA) team.
NASA will preview the upcoming spacewalks during a news conference on July 30 from the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
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