NASA TV Coverage Set for Three Spacewalks in January

[NASA News Releases <hqnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

	January 08, 2020  MEDIA ADVISORY M20-002 NASA TV Coverage Set for Three Spacewalks in January NASA astronaut Jessica Meir takes an out-of-this-world "space-selfie" with her spacesuit helmet visor down reflecting her camera and International Space Station hardware. She and fellow NASA astronaut Christina Koch (out of frame) ventured into the vacuum of space for seven hours and 17 minutes to swap a failed battery charge-discharge unit (BCDU) with a spare during the first all-woman spacewalk. Credits: NASA Four astronauts will venture outside the International Space Station for three spacewalks in January to complete battery upgrades and finalize repairs to an invaluable cosmic ray detector. Expedition 61 Flight Engineers Jessica Meir and Christina Koch of NASA are scheduled to conduct spacewalks Wednesday, Jan. 15, and Monday, Jan. 20, to finish replacing nickel-hydrogen batteries with new lithium-ion batteries that store power generated by the station’s solar arrays on the station’s port truss. Assuming the battery work goes as planned, NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan and space station Commander Luca Parmitano of ESA (European Space Agency) will exit the station Saturday, Jan. 25, to finish installing the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer’s (AMS) new cooling apparatus and lines begun in November and December, and verify they are ready for use. Live coverage of all three spacewalks will begin at 5:30 a.m. EST on NASA Television and the agency’s website. These will be the second and third spacewalks for Meir, who will be extravehicular crew member 1 (EV1) for both spacewalks. Koch, who will be extravehicular crew member 2 (EV2), will perform the fifth and sixth spacewalks of her career. Morgan, who will be EV1 for the AMS spacewalk, and Parmitano, who will be EV2, performed the three previous spacewalks to repair the spectrometer, which is searching for dark matter and antimatter in the universe using the station’s unique location and capabilities for scientific research. The spacewalks will be the 225th, 226th and 227th in support of space station assembly and maintenance. For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv   -end-
	Press Contacts Stephanie Schierholz Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100 stephanie.schierholz@xxxxxxxx Rob Navias Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 rob.navias-1@xxxxxxxx
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