On 15 June 2023 at 1242 GMT Expedition 69 Flight Engineers Warren “Woody” Hoburg and Stephen Bowen began their spacewalk (US EVA-88), after they had opened the hatch of the Quest airlock. With Hoburg leading this EVA, their mission was to install IROSA (International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array) number six to augment power generation on the 1B power channel on the starboard S6 truss. Emirati astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi again assisted at the controls of the Canadarm2 robotic arm from inside the space station, by taking the iROSA from its temporary location and placing it roughly into position. Hoburg and Bowen then moved the iROSA into its final location before unrolling to its full length, 18.2 metres (6 metres wide).
Astronaut Woody Hoburg wearing EV1 during his second EVA. Courtesy: NASA TV.
With six iROSAs installed, the power capacity of the space station has increase by around 30 per cent. iROSAs number seven and eight, the final solar array upgrade planned on the ISS, is expected to be delivered in 2025. The astronauts returned to the Quest airlock where the hatch was closed and airlock repressurization began at 1817 GMT. The EVA concluded at 1817 GMT after 5 hours and 35 minutes. It was the 265th spacewalk in support of space station assembly, upgrades, and maintenance. This spacewalk marked Hoburg’s second and Bowen’s tenth EVA in total.
