NASA’s ‘stranded’ astronauts take first spacewalk together

Two of NASA’s astronauts stuck in space have taken their first spacewalk together today, leaving the space station for the first time as a pair since moving in.

Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore expected to stay at the International Space Station for ten days in June last year, but issues during docking meant the two have been there almost eight months. They have remained in orbit until SpaceX can bring them home.

Today, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore floated out to remove a broken antenna and wipe the station’s exterior for evidence of any microbes that might still be alive after launching from Earth and escaping through vents.

They had trouble unbolting the balky antenna, which had thwarted previous spacewalkers. “It’s not budging,” Wilmore reported from 260 miles (420km) above Earth. Mission Control cancelled all other chores so the two could focus on the antenna.

The pair will not return home until late March or early April, extending their mission to 10 months because of a SpaceX delay in launching their replacements.

Williams performed a spacewalk two weeks ago with another NASA astronaut, but the walk marked Wilmore’s first time outside this trip.