One Giant Step! Astronauts Walk in Space for the First Time Today
Quick Summary
Two NASA astronauts stepped outside the International Space Station today for a six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk. It was the very first spacewalk ever for one of them. Their mission? Give the space station a big power upgrade!
What Happened?
NASA astronauts Anil Menon and Jessica Meir suited up in their spacesuits this morning. Then they floated out of the space station’s airlock into open space.
Outside, there is no air to breathe. The temperature swings from extremely hot to bitterly cold depending on where the Sun is shining. Yet astronauts can work out there safely thanks to their specially designed suits.
For Dr. Menon, this was a huge personal milestone. It was the very first time he had ever walked in space.
The two astronauts had an important job to do. They were installing hardware to prepare the station for a brand-new solar array — one of the panels that captures sunlight and turns it into electricity for everything aboard. Think of it like adding a new battery charger to a giant house in the sky.
This is the first in a series of three spacewalks planned for August. The space station needs these upgrades to keep running smoothly until its planned retirement in 2030.
Dr. Menon is also a doctor and an emergency medicine expert. Before becoming an astronaut, he helped people after earthquakes in Haiti and Nepal. He arrived at the space station on July 14 aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket.
Why Does It Matter?
The International Space Station has been orbiting Earth for more than 25 years. That is older than most kids’ parents! Keeping it powered up and working is like doing a very important tune-up — but 250 miles above the ground.
New solar arrays give the station more electricity. More electricity means scientists can run more experiments. Those experiments help us learn about health, materials, and how to live in space for future trips to the Moon and Mars.
Spacewalks also remind us how brave and skilled astronauts are. Every bolt they tighten is done while floating in a vacuum, wearing a suit that is basically a tiny personal spaceship.
Big Words
- Spacewalk — when an astronaut goes outside a spacecraft into the vacuum of space, also called an EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity)
- Solar array — a large panel covered in solar cells that converts sunlight into electricity
- Airlock — a small chamber with two doors that lets astronauts move between the pressurized station and open space without letting air escape
- Vacuum — a space with no air or atmosphere at all, like the environment of outer space
- Orbit — the curved path an object follows around a planet or star because of gravity
Fun Fact
Dr. Menon’s wife, Anna Menon, performed the first-ever commercial spacewalk during the Polaris Dawn mission in 2024. That means today, both members of the same family have now walked in open space — something no other couple in history can say!
Think About It
If you were going on a spacewalk, what is the one tool or object you would most want to bring with you, and why?
Sources
- NASA — NASA to Cover Three US Spacewalks, Host Preview News Conference
- NASA+ — U.S. Spacewalk 96 scheduled video
- TechTimes — Meir and Menon Head Out August 6 to Power Station Through Its Final Years
- SpacePolicyOnline — NASA ISS SPACEWALK 96 (1st of 3), Aug 6, 2026