ISS astronauts clearing some space for new parking spot
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Astronauts have ventured out on a spacewalk to prep the International Space Station for a new parking spot.
NASA’s Shane Kimbrough and France’s Thomas Pesquet floated out the hatch Friday morning.
Their main job 250 miles up involves disconnecting an old docking port. This port needs to be moved, in order to make room for a docking device compatible with future commercial crew capsules. The new port — the second of two — will fly up late this year or early next.
If all goes well, flight controllers in Houston will relocate the old docking port Sunday. Then next Thursday, the crew will conduct another spacewalk to secure the unit.
NASA wants to cram in two or three spacewalks before Kimbrough returns to Earth on April 10.
