NASA is bringing forward an all-female spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS), with astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir to venture outside the orbiting laboratory to replace a failed power controller.
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The spacewalk, the first by two women, is now planned for Thursday or Friday, instead of next week.
NASA originally scheduled the first all-female spacewalk for late March but had to cancel it because of a lack of spacesuits in the right size.
The failed power unit has no impact on the crew's safety or ongoing experiments, but does prevent a new lithium-ion battery installed earlier this month from providing additional power, NASA said in a blog post.
The station's overall power supply remains sufficient for all operations, NASA said.
NASA will also unveil two new spacesuit designs for its planned missions to the Moon. The suits worn by astronauts conducting spacewalks are 40 years old and have become increasingly difficult to fix, NASA said.
The new suits will give astronauts more mobility and new technology o will allow for longer space walks.
The agency is also building space suits that fit every size, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said.
Australian Associated Press
