Sunita Williams repairs crucial space station module 416 km above Pacific Ocean. Watch here

Sunita Williams, NASA astronaut and International Space Station (ISS) commander, conducted her first spacewalk in 2025 performing vital maintenance and upgrades on the ISS. 

Williams, teamed up with fellow NASA astronaut Nick Hague to carry out much-needed outdoor repairs. The pair stepped outside the ISS as it flew 260 miles above the South Pacific Ocean. 

“I’m coming out,” Williams radioed as she prepared for the task, which took place in low Earth orbit. The spacewalk was part of NASA’s efforts to keep the ISS in optimal working condition. The astronauts worked together to complete repairs that had been postponed due to a series of delays. 

The spacewalk marked Williams’ eighth such event in her career, while for Hague it was fourth such event. The two astronauts spending around six and a half hours working outside the station. Williams wore an unmarked spacesuit as crew member 2, while Hague wore a suit with red stripes as crew member 1. 

The mission focused on repairing critical systems, including maintaining equipment for station orientation and upgrading the NICER telescope. The astronauts also replaced a reflector on a docking adapter and prepared tools for future ISS tasks. 

Sunita Williams will conduct another spacewalk alongside another stranded astronaut Buch Wilmore to complete key tasks, including removing an antenna assembly and collecting surface samples to study microorganisms on the ISS’s exterior. They will also prepare a spare elbow joint for the Canadarm2 robotic arm, essential for station upkeep. Each spacewalk is expected to last six and a half hours. 

Williams and Wilmore, who were the first astronauts to fly aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, remain aboard the ISS nearly 10 months after what was initially planned as an eight-day mission. The Starliner, deemed unfit for human travel following safety reviews, was safely returned to Earth. 

Their return to Earth has been delayed further as NASA postponed the launch of SpaceX’s Crew-10 mission to March 2025.