A stranded NASA astronaut gets a change of pace on a spacewalk, after 7 months in orbit

One of NASA’s two stranded astronauts had a much-welcomed change of scenery Thursday, stepping out on her first spacewalk since arriving at the International Space Station more than seven months ago.

Sonny Williams, the station commander, did some late exterior repair work, along with his colleague Nick Hague. They appeared when the orbital laboratory sailed 420 kilometers above Turkmenistan.

“I’m out,” Williams said on the radio.

Williams got a close-up look at the SpaceX capsule that will bring her home this spring, floating just a few feet from the parked ship as she works to replace a planar reflector on the space station’s exterior. The process took a lot of effort, but she eventually won without damaging her flight.

Plans called for Williams to return next week with Butch Wilmore for another spacewalk. The two were launched aboard Boeing’s new Starliner capsule last June on a week-long test flight. But a Starliner problem prolonged their return, and NASA ordered the capsule to return empty.

SpaceX then delayed the launch of the replacement vehicles, meaning the two wouldn’t return home until late March or early April, 10 months after launch.

Walking among the stars

It was the first spacewalk for NASA astronauts since it was aborted last summer. US spacewalks have been suspended after water leaked into the airlock from the astronauts’ suit cooling ring. NASA said the problem has since been resolved.

Watch | Astronauts Sonny Williams and Nick Hague go on a spacewalk:

NASA astronauts go into space to complete repairs

Sonny Williams, one of two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station after a technical problem delayed a scheduled return to Earth, was doing outdoor repair work Thursday with astronaut Nick Hague.

This is the eighth time for Williams, who has lived on the space station before, and the fourth for Hague.

Hague and Williams are set to replace the station’s instrumentation and repair the station’s Neutron Star Interior Composition ExplorerR (NICER) X-ray telescope. Part of this process involves placing wedge-shaped patches in certain places on the telescope to reduce unwanted sunlight from interfering with the X-ray measurements it takes.

The spacewalk, which began at 8 a.m. ET, will last about 6 1/2 hours and is the 273rd ISS maintenance spacewalk.