---
title: "Watch Astronauts Venture Outside the Space Station to Install Solar Panels"
description: "Two NASA astronauts conducted an hours-long spacewalk Wednesday morning to install new solar panels on the International Space Station."
date: "2021-06-16"
modified: "2021-06-17"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/watch-astronauts-venture-outside-space-station"
categories:
  - "Energy"
  - "Off-World"
  - "Renewable Energy"
  - "Science & Energy"
  - "Solar Power"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "international space station"
  - "space"
  - "spacewalk"
  - "the digest"
---

# Watch Astronauts Venture Outside the Space Station to Install Solar Panels

![Two NASA astronauts conducted an hours-long spacewalk Wednesday morning to install new solar panels on the International Space Station.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/solar-array.jpg>)
*Boeing / NASA / Futurism  https://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-solar-arrays-to-power-nasa-s-international-space-station-research \<em\>Image: \<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-solar-arrays-to-power-nasa-s-international-space-station-research" target="\_blank"\>Boeing / NASA / Futurism\</a\>\</em\>*

## Sneaking Out

Two NASA astronauts took a roughly six-hour spacewalk outside the International Space Station, *[Space.com ](<https://www.space.com/space-station-expedition-64-solar-array-spacewalk-webcast>)*[reports](<https://www.space.com/space-station-expedition-64-solar-array-spacewalk-webcast>), so that they could install some new solar panels on the station.

The actual spacewalk happened early Wednesday morning, but you can still watch and follow along. NASA put the [entire livestreamed video](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCKsedpraVg>) on YouTube so you can still click back through it to see the astronauts work as they float in the cold, empty void of space.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCKsedpraVg

## True Immersion

Some of the footage seems to come from stationary cameras that show an astronaut working away in the distance. But occasionally, the stream switches to a crewmember's helmet camera, giving a first-person view of the repairs. Those particularly eerie shots are illuminated by the astronaut's flashlight, drawing attention to the endless, pitch-black expanse in the background.

But the two astronauts, Thomas Pesquet and Shane Kimbrough, are seasoned pros — this was their third and seventh spacewalks, respectively, and the third that they did together, according to *Space.com*.

Thankfully, the spacewalk [went just fine](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/piece-astronauts-spacesuit-falls-off-during-spacewalk>). But if an astronaut had somehow detached and tumbled away into space, they could have flown back to safety thanks to a jetpack built into their suit.

**READ MORE:** [Watch astronauts install new space station solar arrays in a spacewalk today](<https://www.space.com/space-station-expedition-64-solar-array-spacewalk-webcast>) \[*Space.com*\]

**More on spacewalks:** *[Piece of Astronaut's Spacesuit Falls off During Spacewalk](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/piece-astronauts-spacesuit-falls-off-during-spacewalk>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)