Astronauts repair black hole observatory, inspect cosmic ray detector on ISS spacewalk.

An X-ray observatory used to study neutron stars is “back in the black” and a cosmic ray detector is ready for possible future upgrades after two astronauts completed a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS).

Nick Hague worked to repair the Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer, or NICER, mounted to the outside of the space station, before he and Expedition 72 commander Suni Williams inspected the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) during a six-hour EVA (extravehicular activity) on Thursday (Jan. 16).

Hague and Williams began the spacewalk at 8:01 a.m. EST (1301 GMT) and made quick work of their first and primary task: to replace a rate gyro assembly that helps maintain the station’s orientation. Working near and within the complex’s backbone truss, the two astronauts used power tools to unmount the faulty unit and secure the new one in its place.

From there, they divided their attention, with Hague heading to work on NICER while Williams focused on replacing a reflector used by spacecraft when approaching a docking with the space station. That task brought Williams to the Harmony module and international docking adapter, just beside her and Hague’s ride home in March, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft “Freedom.”

Source: www.space.com

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