CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Spacewalking astronauts had to make do with fewer lights and camera views from one helmet Wednesday while performing critical battery work outside the International Space Station.
It was the second pairing of NASA’s Jessica Meir and Christina Koch outside the orbiting lab. Last October, they teamed up for the world’s first all-female spacewalk.
The women were just getting started on battery replacements when Koch’s camera and light unit came loose and they couldn’t get it back on her helmet. Mission Control told them to just take it off, rather than waste any more time, and continue the spacewalk.
“Just be careful,” Mission Control urged Koch. “You’re missing that additional protection.”
Koch later assured flight controllers that she had enough good light. The astronauts ended up completing all their tasks and even jumped ahead, putting two new batteries in and pulling four old ones out. The spacewalk lasted 7 1/2 hours.
