Anil Menon, Jessica Meir finish spacewalk to prep ISS for solar arrays

NASA astronauts Anil Menon and Jessica Meir completed a spacewalk Friday to install mounting hardware for future solar arrays on the International Space Station. The six-hour, 27-minute spacewalk was the 281st supporting the station, sixth for Meir and first for Menon. Exiting the Quest airlock, they installed mounting hardware on the 3B power channel at the Starboard 6 truss. NASA said the work enables future IROSA installation, supporting critical systems and eventual station deorbit. Six IROSAs have been deployed since 2021; two more are due later this year. Two spacewalks are set this month.