Coverage of U.S. Spacewalk 83 to Install the ISS Roll Out Solar Array on the Port 4 Truss to Augment Electrical Capability for the 4A Power Channel (Rubio and Cassada; spacewalk is scheduled to begin at approximately 8:30 a.m. EST / 13:30 UTC / 14:30 CET and will last around 7 hours) – Johnson Space Center

The spacewalk was postponed on December 21 due to Debris Avoidance.

While flight control teams were preparing for today’s U.S. spacewalk, updated tracking data on a fragment of Russian Fregat-SB upper stage debris showed a close approach to station. Based on this new data, flight control teams directed the crew to stop spacewalk preparations as the ground team stepped into procedures to perform a Pre-Determined Debris Avoidance Maneuver (PDAM.)

The maneuver will use the Roscosmos Progress 81 thrusters to provide the complex an extra measure of distance away from the predicted track of the debris. Thruster firing is targeted to occur at 8:42 a.m. EST. The crew is not in any immediate danger.

Without the maneuver, it is predicted that the fragment could pass within less than a quarter mile from the station.

NASA managers will assess the next possible opportunity to perform the day’s planned spacewalk to install a new set of roll-out solar arrays to augment the station’s power capabilities.

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