Jan. 25 (UPI) — NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan and European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano reached the halfway mark on Saturday’s spacewalk mission. The duo worked to complete repairs on the International Space Station’s Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.
“[Morgan and Parmitano] have completed leak checks and tube inspections on the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and are now installing a multi-layer insulation tent on the astrophysics device,” NASA confirmed on Twitter.
The two astronauts switched their spacesuits to battery power at 7:04 a.m. EST, exiting the Quest airlock around 7:15 a.m. EST. The duo were expected to come back inside the International Space Station around 1:30 p.m. EST.
“They will finalize the complex thermal repairs on the AMS, a dark matter and antimatter detector, installed in 2011 on the Starboard-3 truss structure,” according to NASA.
Saturday’s spacewalk was broadcast live by NASA TV, which can be streamed online.
Though Morgan and Parmitano were alone outside the space station on Saturday, they weren’t without help.
“Meir and Koch will operate the Canadarm2 robotic arm carefully making fine-tuned maneuvers to assist the spacewalkers at the AMS worksite,” according to NASA.
Upon leaving the ISS, Morgan and Parmitano were assisted to their worksite by the Canadarm2. After checking for leaks, the two spacewalkers began their repair work.
Cosmologists and astrophysicists suspect most of the matter in the universe is made up of dark matter, but scientists don’t know what exactly dark matter is. The AMS is an experimental device designed to detect antimatter in cosmic rays and help scientists solve the mystery of dark matter’s composition.
When engineers designed the device, they didn’t conceive of in-service repairs. But the technology’s cooling component needs to be replaced for the experiment to continue.
Morgan and Parmitano began repairs on the AMS during a pair of spacewalks in November. NASA scientists hope Saturday’s efforts to complete the repairs will extend the AMS’ scientific mission through 2030.
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