JAXA Astronaut Koichi Wakata Captures ‘Space-Selfie’ During Spacewalk Outside ISS. SEE Pic

During the seven-hour and 21-minute spacewalk on January 20, 2023, Koichi Wakata pointed the camera toward himself and captured a "space-selfie". This was the first spacewalk of 2023. 

The spacewalk was conducted to install a modification kit on the starboard truss structure of the ISS, enabling the future installation of a Roll-Out Solar Array. During the spacewalk, Koichi Wakata captured a "space-selfie". ( Image Source :NASA )

Expedition 68 astronauts Koichi Wakata of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Nicole Mann of NASA recently performed a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS). The spacewalk was conducted to install a modification kit on the starboard truss structure of the ISS, enabling the future installation of a Roll-Out Solar Array. Roll-Out Solar Arrays are flexible power sources for spacecraft designed by Redwire Space, and an alternative to existing solar array technologies. 

All about the latest spacewalk

During the seven-hour and 21-minute spacewalk on January 20, 2023, Wakata pointed the camera toward himself and captured a "space-selfie". This was the first spacewalk of 2023. 

 

JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata captured a "space-selfie" during his first spacewalk (Photo: NASA)

Wakata and Mann completed their spacewalk at 3:35 pm EST on January 20 (2:05 am IST on January 21). They completed work left over from a previous spacewalk for a platform on which a set of ISS Roll-Out Solar Arrays for the station's 1B power channel will be installed later this year. The astronauts also carried out most of the work to install a similar mounting platform for a set of Roll-Out Solar Arrays for the 1A power channel. 

Plans to bolt a final strut for the second platform were deferred until a future spacewalk due to time constraints. Station operations have not been impacted, NASA said on its website. 

The last four spacewalks conducted outside the ISS, including the latest one, were part of a series of extravehicular activities to augment the orbital laboratory's power channels with new Roll-Out Solar Arrays. So far, four Roll-Out Solar Arrays have been installed, and two more will be mounted to the platforms installed during this spacewalk. 

The spacewalk performed by Wakata and Mann was the 258th spacewalk in support of space station assembly, upgrades and maintenance, and the first spacewalk for both astronauts.