CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s stuck astronaut finally experienced a long-awaited change of scenery on Thursday, embarking on her first spacewalk since arriving at the International Space Station over seven months ago. Suni Williams, the station’s commander, emerged alongside NASA’s Nick Hague to conduct overdue outdoor repair work as the orbiting lab soared 260 miles above Turkmenistan.
“I’m coming out,” Williams radioed as she ventured into space.
Williams was scheduled to participate in another spacewalk next week with Butch Wilmore. The pair had launched aboard Boeing’s new Starliner capsule in June for a planned weeklong test flight. However, delays and complications with the Starliner’s return forced NASA to order the capsule back empty. Furthermore, SpaceX’s postponement of the replacement launch means Williams and Wilmore won’t return home until late March or early April — a staggering ten months after their initial launch.
This spacewalk marked the first by NASA astronauts since a thwarted attempt last summer. U.S. spacewalks had been halted due to water leakage into the airlock from an astronaut’s suit’s cooling loop. NASA has since resolved the issue.
Williams, a seasoned spacewalker, has completed eight spacewalks and has previously resided on the space station.
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