NRI Sunita Williams Achieves Record-Breaking Spacewalk
Duration for a Female Astronaut
Los Angeles/Jan 31, 2025
NRIpress.club/Ramesh/ A.Gary Singh
On January 30, 2 NASA astronauts NRI Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore successfully removed a stubborn radio communications unit outside the International Space Station (ISS), accomplishing what previous spacewalk attempts had failed to do.
Although the task took longer than planned, forcing them to postpone other scheduled activities, the mission marked a significant achievement—especially for Williams, who set a new spacewalking record for female astronauts.
Overcoming Past Challenges
NRI Williams and Wilmore, who launched together aboard Boeing’s Starliner and are part of the Expedition 72 crew, began their spacewalk at 7:43 a.m. EST (1243 GMT). Wilmore moved to the radio frequency group (RFG) worksite while Williams positioned herself using the Canadarm2 robotic arm.
The RFG had resisted removal in multiple previous attempts—first in April 2023, when a latching bolt wouldn’t release, and again in October 2023, when astronauts had time only to inspect it. Additional attempts in June 2024 were canceled due to spacesuit issues.
This time, Williams and Wilmore applied different techniques and even a bit of force to finally dislodge the unit.
“There it goes, it’s free,” Williams exclaimed. “Holy moly!”
“It was jiggle, jiggle, jiggle, and then it came loose,” Wilmore added.
After securing the RFG, the astronauts carefully transported it back to the Quest airlock for return to Earth and refurbishment.
A Record-Breaking Spacewalk
Following the removal of the RFG, Williams returned to the worksite to clean up and store tools, while Wilmore collected microbial samples from the station’s exterior—part of NASA’s first-ever microbial study on the U.S. side of the ISS.
With time running out and Williams’ spacesuit showing a slight increase in battery amperage, NASA postponed the final planned task—preparing a spare elbow joint for the Canadarm2—for a future spacewalk. The duo reentered the airlock, ending the EVA at 1:09 p.m. EST (1809 GMT).
Thursday’s EVA marked Wilmore’s fifth spacewalk, bringing his total time outside the ISS to 31 hours and 2 minutes. For Williams, it was her ninth spacewalk, pushing her total EVA time to 62 hours and 6 minutes—surpassing the previous record of 60 hours and 21 minutes set by Peggy Whitson in 2017.
Although Whitson still holds the record for the most spacewalks by a woman (10), Williams now ranks fourth worldwide for cumulative spacewalking time.
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