Imagine floating hundreds of miles above Earth, tethered to a massive space station, with nothing but the blackness of space around you and the brilliant blue curve of our planet below. That is exactly what NASA astronauts are preparing to do — not once, but three separate times in August. NASA has announced plans to cover three upcoming spacewalks aboard the International Space Station (ISS), and the agency hosted a preview news conference on July 30 to walk the public through what to expect. Whether you are a curious kid or a parent looking for a way to spark a love of space exploration, this is one story worth following closely.
⚡ Quick Answer
What is happening? NASA astronauts will perform three spacewalks outside the International Space Station in August to upgrade the station's solar power arrays, swap out a communications antenna, and connect important power and data cables — all critical work to keep humanity's home in space running smoothly for years to come.
🚀 What Exactly Is a Spacewalk?
Before we dive into the details of these three upcoming missions, it helps to understand what a spacewalk actually is. Officially called an Extravehicular Activity, or EVA, a spacewalk is any time an astronaut leaves the pressurized interior of a spacecraft or space station to work in the open vacuum of space. Think of it like stepping outside your house — except your "outside" is a place with no air, extreme temperature swings, and micrometeoroids zipping past at thousands of miles per hour.
Astronauts wear a highly specialized suit called the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU), which is essentially a self-contained spacecraft worn on the body. It provides oxygen, regulates temperature, removes carbon dioxide, and protects against the harsh environment of low Earth orbit. A single spacewalk typically lasts around six to eight hours, making each one a physically and mentally demanding feat of human endurance and engineering.
The International Space Station has been the site of more than 260 spacewalks since construction began in 1998, making it one of the most well-practiced arenas for EVA work in the history of space exploration.
📌 Spacewalk Fast Facts:
- 🧑🚀 Official Name: Extravehicular Activity (EVA)
- ⏱️ Typical Duration: 6 to 8 hours per spacewalk
- 🌡️ Temperature Range Outside ISS: Roughly -250°F in shadow to +250°F in sunlight
- 🛰️ ISS Orbit Altitude: Approximately 250 miles (400 km) above Earth
- 🔢 Total ISS Spacewalks (historical): More than 260 since 1998
☀️ Why Are the Solar Arrays Being Upgraded?
One of the primary goals of these three spacewalks is to continue upgrading the ISS's solar power arrays. This is part of an ongoing effort NASA has been undertaking over the past few years to significantly boost the station's electrical power capacity. But why does a space station need more power?
The ISS is an extraordinarily complex machine. It houses life support systems, scientific laboratories, communications equipment, computers, lighting, exercise machines, food preparation tools, and much more. All of that requires electricity — and as the station's research demands grow and new modules are added, the need for reliable, robust power increases accordingly.
The original solar arrays on the ISS were installed starting in the late 1990s and early 2000s. After more than two decades in the harsh environment of space — bombarded by ultraviolet radiation, micrometeorites, and extreme thermal cycling — those arrays have naturally degraded and now produce less power than they did when new. NASA's solution has been to install newer, more efficient solar arrays called iROSA (ISS Roll-Out Solar Array) panels alongside the existing ones.
The iROSA panels are a marvel of modern engineering. Rather than being rigid and fixed like the original arrays, they roll out like a scroll when deployed in space, saving precious room during launch. Each iROSA panel is designed to supplement the aging original arrays and restore — and even increase — the station's total power generation capacity. The August spacewalks will continue this installation and upgrade process, ensuring the ISS has the electrical muscle it needs to support science and crew operations well into the future.
🌞 How Do Solar Arrays Power a Space Station?
Solar arrays work by converting sunlight directly into electricity through a process called the photovoltaic effect. When photons (particles of light) from the Sun strike special semiconductor materials — usually silicon — they knock electrons loose, creating an electric current. That current is then used to power the station's systems or stored in batteries for use when the ISS passes through Earth's shadow.
The ISS orbits Earth roughly every 90 minutes, meaning it experiences about 16 sunrises and sunsets every single day. For about 45 minutes of each orbit, the station is in Earth's shadow and relies entirely on its battery reserves. The upgraded iROSA arrays help ensure those batteries stay well-charged and that the station never runs short of power during its shadow periods.
At full capacity with the iROSA upgrades, the ISS solar power system is designed to generate up to approximately 215 kilowatts of electricity — enough to power around 40 average American homes simultaneously.
📡 Replacing a Communications Antenna — Why Does It Matter?
Another key task during these spacewalks is replacing a communications antenna on the exterior of the space station. Communication might not sound as dramatic as floating in space or installing giant solar panels, but it is absolutely essential to the safety and success of every mission aboard the ISS.
The ISS communicates with mission controllers on the ground through a network of relay satellites and direct radio links. These systems allow flight controllers at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston — and partner agencies around the world — to monitor the station's health, send commands, receive scientific data, and stay in constant contact with the crew. If communications were to fail, the crew would be isolated and mission controllers would lose the ability to help manage emergencies.
Antennas on the outside of the ISS are exposed to the same brutal environment as everything else on the station's exterior. Over time, hardware degrades, components age, and replacements become necessary. Swapping out an antenna during a spacewalk is a precise, painstaking job — astronauts must carefully disconnect old hardware, install new components, and verify that everything is properly secured and functioning, all while wearing bulky gloves in the vacuum of space.
🔧 What the Three Spacewalks Will Accomplish:
- ☀️ Solar Array Upgrades: Continue installing and upgrading iROSA solar panels to boost the station's power generation capacity
- 📡 Antenna Replacement: Swap out an aging communications antenna to maintain reliable contact with mission controllers on Earth
- 🔌 Power & Data Cables: Connect critical cables that route electricity and data to support ongoing station operations
- 🗓️ Timing: All three spacewalks are scheduled to take place in August
- 📺 Preview Conference: NASA held an expert preview news conference on July 30 at 2 p.m. EDT
🔌 Connecting Power and Data Cables in Space
The third major task across these spacewalks involves connecting power and data cables in support of ongoing space station operations. This might sound like a simple job — after all, we plug in cables at home all the time — but doing it in space is an entirely different challenge.
Consider that astronauts are wearing gloves that are pressurized to keep their hands safe from the vacuum of space. Those gloves significantly reduce dexterity and tactile feedback. Connecting a cable correctly while wearing them requires extensive training, patience, and a carefully rehearsed procedure. Astronauts practice these tasks hundreds of times in NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory — a massive swimming pool in Houston where the underwater environment simulates the weightlessness of space — before they ever attempt them on orbit.
Power and data cables on the ISS are the nervous system and circulatory system of the station rolled into one. Power cables distribute electricity from the solar arrays to every corner of the station. Data cables carry the constant stream of information flowing between computers, sensors, scientific instruments, and communication systems. Ensuring these connections are properly made is foundational work that keeps everything else functioning.
💫 Why NASA Holds Preview News Conferences
You might wonder why NASA takes the time to hold a preview news conference before spacewalks. The answer speaks to one of NASA's core values: transparency and public engagement. Space exploration is funded by taxpayers, and NASA has a long tradition of keeping the public informed about what its astronauts and scientists are doing — and why it matters.
At a preview conference, NASA experts — including flight directors, spacewalk coordinators, and astronaut trainers — explain the goals of each EVA, the procedures involved, the tools that will be used, and the potential challenges the crew might face. This kind of briefing helps journalists, educators, and curious members of the public understand the complexity and importance of what might otherwise look like "just a repair job" from the outside.
For families and students, these conferences are a wonderful educational resource. NASA typically streams them live and makes recordings available afterward, offering a rare behind-the-scenes look at how one of humanity's most ambitious ongoing projects actually works. Watching a preview conference together can be a fantastic way to spark a child's interest in engineering, astronomy, and space exploration.
🌍 Why the ISS Still Matters for Space Exploration
Some people ask: with all the excitement around missions to the Moon and Mars, why are we still investing so much effort in the International Space Station? The answer is that the ISS remains one of the most scientifically productive and strategically important assets in humanity's space exploration toolkit.
The station serves as a continuous laboratory for studying how the human body adapts to long-duration spaceflight — research that is directly relevant to future missions to the Moon under NASA's Artemis program and, eventually, crewed missions to Mars. Scientists aboard the ISS study everything from fluid physics and materials science to biology and Earth observation. The station also serves as a proving ground for technologies and operational techniques that will be needed for deep space exploration.
Keeping the ISS in top operating condition — which is exactly what these three spacewalks are designed to help accomplish — is therefore not just about maintaining an aging outpost. It is about ensuring that humanity's most experienced and capable platform for learning how to live and work in space continues to deliver knowledge that will carry us to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
The ISS is currently planned to operate through at least 2030, after which NASA and its international partners plan to transition to commercially operated space stations in low Earth orbit. Every upgrade performed during spacewalks like these helps extend the station's useful life and maximize the scientific return on the enormous investment that has gone into building and maintaining it over more than two decades.
🌟 Fun Ways to Follow Along With NASA Spacewalks:
- 📺 Watch Live: NASA typically streams spacewalks live on NASA TV and its YouTube channel — check nasa.gov for schedules
- 🔭 Track the ISS: Use NASA's Spot the Station tool to find out when the ISS will pass over your location — it is visible to the naked eye!
- 📰 Read the Briefings: NASA publishes detailed press kits and news releases before major EVAs at nasa.gov
- 👨👩👧 Family Activity: Try building a model solar array at home using cardstock and aluminum foil to understand how the real ones work
🔭 Connecting It All to the Bigger Picture of Astronomy
It is easy to think of spacewalks as purely practical maintenance work — and in many ways, they are. But they also connect to the broader story of humanity's relationship with the cosmos. Every cable connected, every solar panel upgraded, and every antenna replaced represents a small but meaningful step in our long-term journey to become a spacefaring species capable of exploring our solar system.
The solar arrays being upgraded during these spacewalks harvest energy from the very same star that warms our planet, drives our weather, and has been worshipped and studied by humans throughout all of recorded history. The communications antennas being replaced are part of a network that bridges the 250-mile gap between the station and the ground, keeping astronauts connected to their home planet even as they orbit it at 17,500 miles per hour. These are not just engineering tasks — they are chapters in one of the greatest stories our species has ever told.
For children especially, moments like these three upcoming spacewalks offer a powerful reminder that space exploration is not a distant dream or a thing of the past. It is happening right now, carried out by real people doing real work, and it is building toward a future in which humans will walk on the Moon again and one day set foot on Mars.
🎯 Key Takeaways
- ✨ Three Spacewalks in August: NASA astronauts will perform three EVAs outside the ISS to carry out critical upgrades and maintenance tasks.
- ✨ Solar Power Upgrades: The iROSA solar array installations will boost the station's electrical power capacity, ensuring it can support science and crew operations for years to come.
- ✨ Communications and Cables: Replacing an antenna and connecting power and data cables are essential steps in keeping the ISS safe, functional, and connected to Earth.
- ✨ Public Engagement: NASA held a preview news conference on July 30 so experts could walk the public through what to expect — a great resource for families and educators.
- ✨ Bigger Purpose: Every spacewalk is a building block in humanity's long-term mission to explore the Moon, Mars, and beyond — and you can follow along live at home.
Source: NASA — NASA to Cover Three US Spacewalks, Host Preview News Conference