Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Space
  3. Space News

How to watch two astronauts perform their first spacewalk on Friday

By

This Friday, January 20, will see two astronauts from the International Space Station (ISS) head out of the station’s Quest airlock to install new hardware to the station’s exterior.

NASA Live: Official Stream of NASA TV

If you’re interested in seeing what it is like to work in space, then NASA will be livestreaming the entire spacewalk along with commentary to explain it, and we’ve got details below on how you can watch.

Recommended Videos

What to expect from the spacewalk

A photo of Expedition 68 Flight Engineer and NASA spacewalker Josh Cassada on Dec. 22, 2022, preparing a roll-out solar array for its deployment on the International Space Station's Port-4 truss segment as the orbiting lab flew 264 miles above the Indian Ocean off the coast of South Africa.
A photo of Expedition 68 Flight Engineer and NASA spacewalker Josh Cassada on Dec. 22, 2022, preparing a roll-out solar array for its deployment on the International Space Station’s Port-4 truss segment as the orbiting lab flew 264 miles above the Indian Ocean off the coast of South Africa. NASA

The two astronauts performing the spacewalk will be NASA astronaut Nicole Mann and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata, and this will be the first spacewalk for both of them. They will be working on the ongoing project of upgrading the space station’s power system, which involves installing new solar arrays called iROSAs. So far, four out of a total of six iROSAs have been installed since 2021.

Related: 
The 8 best TVs for gaming in 2025, as vetted by our experts

Mann and Wakata won’t be installing solar arrays this time though, instead, they will be installing two mounting platforms which will be used for installing arrays in the future.

“The duo will complete the installation of a mounting platform on the 1B power channel that was started during a previous spacewalk and begin installing a mounting platform on the 1A power channel,” NASA writes.

If you’re watching the spacewalk and wondering which astronaut is which, then Mann will be wearing an unmarked white suit, while Wakata will be wearing a white suit with red stripes.

How to watch the spacewalk

The spacewalk will be live-streamed on NASA TV, which you can watch either by using the video embedded near the top of this page or by heading over to the NASA TV stream on YouTube.

Coverage of the spacewalk will begin at 7 a.m. ET (4 a.m. PT) on Friday, January 20, with the spacewalk itself scheduled to begin at 8:15 a.m. ET (5:15 a.m. PT). Coverage will run for the duration of the spacewalk, which is estimated to be around six and a half hours.

Georgina Torbet
Georgina Torbet
Former Space Writer
Georgina has been the space writer at Digital Trends space writer for six years, covering human space exploration, planetary…
Topics

Editors’ Recommendations

How to watch SpaceX’s sixth test flight of Starship megarocket
The Starship spacecraft during an engine test.

SpaceX is making final preparations for the sixth test flight of its mighty Starship rocket featuring the most Super Heavy, the most powerful booster ever to fly.

The Elon Musk-led spaceflight company is targeting Tuesday, November 19, for the sixth test of the 120-meter-tall rocket.

Read more
Starliner astronauts are healthy and not losing weight, NASA says
NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts (from top) Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Station’s Harmony module and the Starliner spacecraft.

Following tabloid speculation that two of its astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) are losing a concerning amount of weight, NASA has emphasized that all the crew members currently on board the station are in good health.

Since last week, several tabloids have run stories expressing concern that NASA's Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were looking "gaunt" and could be losing too much weight during their stay on the ISS. However, both the astronauts in question and NASA medical staff have denied that this is the case. Williams has commented on the rumors during video interviews, saying that she is the same weight now as when she first arrived on the station.

Read more
How to watch the prolific Leonid meteor shower, which peaks this weekend
The Lyrid meteor shower

This month will see a striking astronomical event, as the prolific Leonid meteor shower sends lights streaming through the sky at night until November 30. If you're hoping to catch a great view of the meteor shower, then this weekend is the perfect time to go meteor hunting as the shower peaks during the evening of November 18.

The Leonids are created by debris left over from a comet called 55P/Tempel-Tuttle. “As comets orbit the sun, the ice sublimes [changes from a solid to a gas] and the trapped dust is swept out into a tail behind them,” explained Ashley King of the U.K.'s National History Museum.  “As they come out of the vacuum of space and into Earth’s atmosphere, that little dust grain interacts with all the particles and ions in the atmosphere. It gets heated up by the friction and forms the impressive flash that we see. The Earth isn’t close to the comet – it’s just passing through some of the dust it left behind.”

Read more