Suni Williams sets new record for total spacewalking time by female astronaut

NEW YORK: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have completed their spacewalk that lasted about six hours, Russian News Agency (TASS) reported.

According to NASA, the astronauts "completed their primary objectives, including removing a radio frequency group antenna assembly from the station's truss and collecting samples of surface material for analysis from the Destiny laboratory and the Quest airlock."

It was the ninth spacewalk for Williams and the fifth one for Wilmore. In general, it was the 274th spacewalk "in support of space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades."

"Williams surpassed former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson's record for total spacewalking time by a female astronaut. Williams now has 62 hours, 6 minutes of total spacewalk time, fourth on NASA's all-time list," NASA pointed out.

Wilmore and Williams arrived at the International Space Station on the Starliner spaceship launched by the Boeing Corporation on June 5.

It was Boeing's first manned launch to the orbital outpost. Wilmore and Williams were initially expected to return on June 18 but due to technical issues with the Starliner's thrusters, their return was postponed first to June 16 and then indefinitely.

Eventually, NASA decided that the two astronauts would go back to Earth together with SpaceX's Crew-9 mission in the spring of 2025.

-- BERNAMA