National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) two astronauts embarked on their first spacewalk of the year today, January 16, offering a fascinating opportunity for space enthusiasts to watch the event live.

Astronauts Nick Hague and Suni Williams began their extravehicular activity (EVA) at approximately 8:00 am, Eastern Standard Time EST (1300 Greenwich Mean Time- GMT), stepping outside the International Space Station (ISS) for a mission expected to last about six and a half hours. NASA started broadcasting the event live at 6.30 am- EST/(1130 GMT), with Space.com carrying the stream if available.

The pair faced a busy schedule during their time outside the Space Station. Their tasks included sealing light leaks on the NICER X-ray telescope, preparing the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer for upcoming upgrades, and replacing critical engineering components to ensure the station’s proper orientation and navigation. NASA shared these details in a post on January 15.

NICER, which stands for "Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer," was launched to the Space Station in June 2017 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. This telescope specializes in studying black holes, neutron stars, and other celestial phenomena using X-ray light. However, in May 2023, sunlight began leaking into NICER through small tears in its thermal shields, disrupting its scientific observations. Today's spacewalk focused on fixing this issue by installing patches to block the unwanted light.

This marks the first time astronauts have repaired a NASA space telescope in orbit since the final servicing mission for the Hubble Space Telescope in 2009.

The astronauts also worked on the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a USD 2 billion particle detector installed on the ISS in 2011. This advanced instrument searches for dark matter by analyzing high-energy particles known as cosmic rays.

Nick Hague, who arrived at the Sapce Station in late September aboard SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission, is currently serving as a flight engineer for Expedition 72. Suni Williams, the commander of Expedition 72, joined the International Space Station in early June with fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore during Boeing’s first crewed Starliner spacecraft flight. Although their mission was initially planned to last just 10 days, issues with the Starliner’s thrusters extended their stay. 

NASA eventually brought the spacecraft back to Earth uncrewed in September. Williams and Wilmore are scheduled to return to Earth next month alongside Hague and his Crew-9 colleague Alexandr Gorbunov from Russia’s Roscosmos.

For Hague, this marks his fourth career spacewalk, while it is the eighth for Williams. During today’s mission, Hague wore a spacesuit with red stripes, while Williams' suit remained unmarked, NASA confirmed.