USA: The power generation system of International Space Station has been successfully upgraded by NASA Nicole Mann and astronauts from Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) (ISS).

He completed his six-hour, 41-minute spacewalk at 2:26 p.m. EST on February 2 (12:56 am IST on February 3). This is the second spacewalk of the year for both the astronauts and their second spacewalk overall.

NASA reports that there have been 259 spacewalks aboard the ISS since December 1998, including this one. The same team, Mann and Wakata, completed the first spacewalk of the year on 20 January. The duration of 7 hours, 21 minutes was completed. Spacewalks, also known as EVAs (extravehicular activities), typically last five to eight hours, depending on the task.

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The "Mounting Platform on the 1A Power Channel" introduced during the 20 January spacewalk was finished by Mann and Wakata.
The truss structure, composed of several sections that served as attachment points for the ISS' external payloads, solar arrays and heat radiators, was worked into the starboard section.

The astronauts also deployed cables for the installation of the following pair of International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs), as well as "deported portable leg restraints from the P6 truss for future spacewalk tasks."

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According to a NASA blog, the installation was a part of a series of spacewalks to connect the new iROSAs to the space station's power channels.

Four iROSAs have already been installed, and two more arrays will be added to the existing platform during upcoming spacewalks. According to the space agency, all six IROSA will increase the space station's power supply by 20 to 30 percent.

There are currently a total of seven astronauts on the ISS. The NASA Crew-5 mission, carried out by SpaceX and arriving at the ISS in October 2022, includes Mann and Wakata.

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Josh Cassada from NASA and Anna Kikina from the Russian space agency Roscosmos are also participating in the mission. Other crew members are Sergei Prokopyev, Dmitry Petelin and Frank Rubio of NASA.