US Spacewalk 92 Live with NASA Astronauts Sunita And Wilmore

US Spacewalk 92: NASA’s Indian-Origin Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore Successfully Execute Spacewalk Outside ISS

On January 30, 2025, both Williams and Wilmore performed their very first extravehicular activity (EVA) together as they took a walk in space outside the international space station. This spacewalk was done with the intention of conducting essential tasks outside the station. It was the 92nd spacewalk performed by the US.

Political Issues Surrounding Their Return

Before the spacewalk, U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the Biden administration, accusing it of leaving NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore stranded in space. Trump stated that he had personally asked Elon Musk’s SpaceX to expedite their return to Earth.

Trump’s remarks followed the confirmation made by Musk about the conversation that President Trump had with him, asking me to send them back as soon as possible. NASA had estimated a late March pickup, but, in synergy with the president, Musk proclaimed, “We will do so.”.

Need For the Spacewalk

NASA is conducting several research and maintenance objectives outside of the ISS. They included:

• Collecting exterior samples for ISS to analyze in-depth microbial life
• Conducting inspection and replacement of hardware components that were crucial.
• Provided assistance with the upcoming upgrades to the stations in preparation for the long-term mission support.

This mission is part of NASA’s series of tasks to preserve the ISS and plan for possible deep space missions in the years to come.

Issues Faced by Astronauts

William and Wilmore were supposed to come back to earth months back, but due to some technical issues with their Boeing starliner capsule, they had to extend their stay on the ISS. NASA announced later that the capsule will be sent back to earth without any astronauts onboard, and the astronauts will get to earth from a Space X crew dragon spacecraft, which is set to launch somewhere around March or April of 2025.

Both astronauts are professional and accommodating despite the extended mission. This is Wilmore’s first spacewalk during this mission, while Williams is in her second spacewalk in two weeks and ninth overall. Nevertheless, both astronauts have previous EVA experience from other missions also.

NASA’s Future Space Missions

NASA is actively working towards preparing the astronauts for extended missions into space, concentrating on the Moon and Mars. The gained experience from these ISS spacewalks is significantly valuable for future exploration programs like Deep Space Artemis and missions beyond Earth’s orbit.

Watch the Spacewalk

For those interested in witnessing this remarkable event, NASA has shared the full video of US Spacewalk 92:

• Watch NASA Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore on Spacewalk 92 on YouTube. Click here
• Watch the live stream of the spacewalk on X (formerly Twitter): NASA Live Broadcast on X, Click Here