Outside the International Space Station, Expedition 51 Commander Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Jack Fischer of NASA conducted a spacewalk May 12 to replace an avionics box responsible for routing power and data commands to experiments on the orbital outpost. In addition to that work, the two spacewalkers installed a data cable for the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and a new high definition camera on the station’s truss. The spacewalk was the 200th in support of space station assembly and maintenance since 1998, the ninth for Whitson, who vaulted into third place on the all-time list for most spacewalking hours, and the first for Fischer.
Tag: Expedition 51
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President Trump Calls Space Station Crew on Record-Setting Day
From the Oval Office at the White House, President Trump called Expedition 51 Commander Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Jack Fischer of NASA April 24 to offer congratulations to Whitson on the day she broke the record for most cumulative days on orbit by a U.S. astronaut. Whitson’s 534-day total surpassed the record held by NASA’s Jeff Williams. Trump’s daughter Ivanka and NASA astronaut Kate Rubins joined the president to discuss Whitson’s presence as a role model for young women and students as she continues her more than nine-month mission on station.