1st OF FIVE SPACEWALKS TO REPLACE ISS BATTERIES, Oct 6, 2019, Earth orbit

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) will conduct a series of five spacewalks to replace some of the original nickel-hydrogen batteries on the exterior of the space station with new lithium-ion batteries that were just delivered by Japan’s HTV-8 cargo spacecraft.  Astronauts have already replaced some of the batteries and a final round will take place next spring after the next HTV delivery.

The five spacewalks will be conducted on the following dates, with crew assignments as of October 4, 2019.  During an October 4 press briefing, NASA ISS Program Manager Kirk Shireman and astronaut Megan McArthur, Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office, stressed that they be learning as they go along so changes are possible.

The four U.S. Operating Segment (USOS) astronauts are NASA’s Christina Koch, Drew Morgan and Jessica Meir and the European Space Agency’s Luca Parmitano.

NASA TV will cover all of the spacewalks, each of which will last about 6.5 hours.

Fifty-five USOS spacewalks — or extravehicular activities (EVAs) — have already taken place.  These are numbers 56-60.

EVA 56:  October 6, Koch and Morgan
EVA 57:  October 11, Koch and Morgan
EVA 58:  October 16, Morgan and Meir
EVA 59:  October 21, Koch and Meir
EVA 60:  October 25, Meir and Parmitano