Contingency Spacewalk to Replace ISS Data Relay Box Approved for Tuesday - NASA

According to NASA, two crew members of the International Space Station, Expedition 51 Commander Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Jack Fischer, were cleared for a contingency spacewalk on Tuesday to replace a data relay box.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Two crew members of the International Space Station, Expedition 51 Commander Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Jack Fischer, were cleared for a contingency spacewalk on Tuesday to replace a data relay box, which failed for an as-of-yet unidentified reason, NASA said.

"International Space Station Program managers have given the green light for a contingency spacewalk on Tuesday by two Expedition 51 crewmembers to change out a multiplexer-demultiplexer (MDM) data relay box on the S0 truss that failed on Saturday morning… It will be conducted by Expedition 51 Commander Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Jack Fischer of NASA," the press release read.

According to NASA, the spacewalk is expected to last about two hours.

On Sunday, preparations for the spacewalk were made and reviewed.

The failure of the box, the reason for which has not been identified yet, has not disrupted the station's activities and the crew is not in any danger.

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