🚀 Science
Kerala-origin astronaut Anil Menon helps install new solar array in 100th US spacewalk
In 60 seconds: NASA astronaut Anil Menon, whose father is from Kerala, and Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk spent 7 hours 11 minutes outside the International Space Station on Thursday, installing and unrolling a new solar array. It is the seventh of eight roll-out arrays that will raise the station's available power from 160 to about 215 kilowatts. It was the 100th US spacewalk, Menon's fourth and Kutryk's first.
Why it matters
The space station's original solar wings are wearing out. The new arrays keep it powered for research until its planned retirement in 2030, including a safe, controlled deorbit.
Explain it simply
When an old rooftop solar panel starts giving less power, you fit a new, thinner one in front of it. The astronauts did the same job, but 400 km above Earth.
The 3-minute read
What happened
The array was fitted at the P4 truss on the station's port side and unrolled in about 10 minutes, using carbon-fibre booms instead of motors. The pair finished about an hour ahead of schedule.
Background
Each array is about 60 feet long and adds roughly 8 kilowatts. The last two arrays reached the station on a SpaceX Cargo Dragon launched on 13 October.
How it works
Menon rode the Canadarm2 robotic arm, operated from inside by NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney. Power cables could be connected only during orbital night, when the panels make no electricity.
What's next
On 5 November the same pair plans to install the eighth and final array at the far end of the main truss, completing an upgrade that began in 2021.
What it means for you
Indian-origin astronauts like Kalpana Chawla, Sunita Williams and now Anil Menon show how science careers can cross borders.
Key numbers
- 7 hr 11 min: Length of the spacewalk
- 160 → 215 kW: Station power before and after all eight arrays
- 100: US spacewalk number
- 7 of 8: New arrays now installed
Both sides
- Supporters of the upgrade: More power keeps experiments running and makes a safe, controlled end to the station possible.
- Cautious observers: Spacewalks remain risky, and an earlier audit flagged ageing spacesuits and thin spare parts.
Key terms explained
- Spacewalk
- Work done by an astronaut outside a spacecraft in a pressurised suit, also called an EVA.
- Solar array
- A large set of solar panels joined together to turn sunlight into electricity.
The story so far
- Jun 2021: First new roll-out solar array is unfurled on the space station. NASA began fitting compact roll-out solar arrays in front of the station's ageing original solar wings, which were delivered by space shuttles between 2000 and 2009. Six were in place by 2023.
- Jul 2026: Anil Menon reaches the space station aboard a Russian Soyuz. NASA astronaut Anil Menon, born in the US to an Indian father from Kerala's Palakkad district and a Ukrainian mother, flew to the station on Soyuz MS-29 for his first space mission.
- Today: Anil Menon and Joshua Kutryk install 7th new ISS solar array in 100th US spacewalk
Exam notes (UPSC, SSC, Banking, PSC)
- The International Space Station is run by five space agencies: NASA (US), Roscosmos (Russia), ESA (Europe), JAXA (Japan) and CSA (Canada).
- Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian in space in 1984, aboard the Soviet Soyuz T-11.
- Shubhanshu Shukla became the first Indian to visit the ISS, on the Axiom-4 mission in 2025.
- A spacewalk is technically called an extravehicular activity (EVA).
Likely exam question: What is the International Space Station? Which agencies run it, and how has India been connected with it?