ISS crew rehearses robotic operations ahead of solar-array spacewalk

The International Space Station crew prepared on 26 October for a spacewalk to install a new roll-out solar array. NASA’s daily report describes preparations rather than a completed installation.

Anil Menon and Joshua Kutryk are scheduled to leave the station on Thursday, 29 October, at 8 a.m. US Eastern Daylight Time. The planned duration is six hours and 45 minutes. Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney will assist with spacesuits and the Canadarm2 robotic arm.

The four astronauts rehearsed arm movements needed to transfer equipment to the installation site. Under the plan, Menon will attach to the arm and carry the array to the worksite, where Kutryk will join him. Checks also covered emergency jetpacks and spacesuit systems.

Cargo transfers involving Dragon continued alongside research. Delaney worked with bioprinted blood-vessel tissues and documented sleep for a stress-reduction investigation. These are orbital experiments, not announcements of treatments ready for patients. The spacewalk schedule remains a plan subject to NASA updates.

Primary source: https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2026/10/26/week-begins-with-robotics-prep-for-spacewalk-and-advanced-research/.

Cover: archival view of ISS solar arrays above the southern United States, NASA, iss073e0273067; not a photograph of the planned 29 October installation. NASA media guidelines.