Nasa’s Sunita Williams makes first of two spacewalks

Nasa astronaut Suni Williams, one of two astronauts stuck on the International Space Station, ventured outside for a spacewalk on Thursday for the first time since arriving on board seven months ago.

Ms Williams and fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore were due to return to Earth after a week-long mission in June 2024 but their return has been delayed because of a technical issue.

They now won’t be back until late March or possibly April.

Ms Williams – an experienced astronaut who has conducted many spacewalks during previous stays aboard the ISS – teamed up with astronaut Nick Hague on Thursday to perform maintenance on the craft.

Their tasks included repairing equipment that governs station orientation, patch light filters on the NICER X-ray telescope, and replacing a reflector device on an international docking adapter.

Additionally, the pair will check access areas and connector tools that will be used for future maintenance work on the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a particle physics experiment module mounted on the ISS.

Nasa said the six-hour-long spacewalk, the eighth in Ms Williams’ career, went well and that they completed the jobs they needed to do. You can watch a recording of it here.

Ms Williams will conduct a second spacewalk on 23 January with Mr Wilmore.

Together, they will remove a radio frequency group antenna assembly (a collection of components designed to transmit and receive radio waves) and collect surface samples for microorganism analysis.

They will also prepare a backup elbow joint for the Canadarm2 robotic arm by positioning the joint in the optimal configuration for a quick replacement if needed.

Ms Williams and Mr Wilmore went on what was meant to be an eight day mission to the ISS aboard Boeing’s Starliner in June 2024.

However, technical issues including helium leaks and thruster malfunctions meant that the Starliner was unsafe for their return.

Nasa plans to bring them back to Earth in late March aboard a spaceship built by SpaceX, a rival company of Boeing.

Despite these setbacks, the astronauts have continued their work aboard the ISS while awaiting a safe journey home.