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Anil Menon readies for two ISS spacewalks on 29 October and 5 November to add new solar arrays

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Editor's note: TrendDesh previewed NASA's news conference on spacewalks 100 and 101 on 19 October. This update adds the dates, crew and power figures given at that briefing on 20 October.

NASA astronaut Anil Menon is preparing for two spacewalks outside the International Space Station on 29 October and 5 November 2026, NASA said in its station blog on 20 October. Menon and Joshua Kutryk of the Canadian Space Agency will install roll-out solar arrays on the station’s truss, finishing upgrades to its power system.

Anil Menon: Anil Menon attached to the Canadarm2 robotic arm during a spacewalk on 25 August 2026 to install a space-to-ground antenna
Anil Menon attached to the Canadarm2 robotic arm during a spacewalk on 25 August 2026 to install a space-to-ground antenna Photo: NASA (public domain).

What Anil Menon and Joshua Kutryk will do

On Tuesday, Menon worked in the Quest airlock configuring tools and inspecting tethers that he and Kutryk will use on both spacewalks, NASA said. The arrays will finalise the upgrades to the orbital outpost’s power generation system. At a spacewalk preview news conference the same day, Gaurang Patel, operations integration manager for NASA’s Low Earth Orbit Program, said the roll-out solar arrays “increase our power generation capability up to 30 percent.” Menon has worked outside the station before: on 25 August 2026 he was attached to the latching end of the Canadarm2 robotic arm during a spacewalk to install a high-speed space-to-ground antenna, according to NASA.

Key Facts

  • Spacewalk dates: 29 October and 5 November 2026
  • Crew: Anil Menon (NASA) and Joshua Kutryk (CSA)
  • Task: install roll-out solar arrays on the truss
  • Power gain: up to 30%, NASA’s Gaurang Patel said
  • Earlier walk: 25 August 2026, space-to-ground antenna

“The roll-out solar arrays increase our power generation capability up to 30 percent.”

— Gaurang Patel, NASA Low Earth Orbit Program

Bioprinting blood vessels in the Columbus lab

Expedition 75 spent Tuesday on human health research. NASA flight engineers Luke Delaney and Jessica Watkins took part in a cellular printing study using the BioFabrication Facility in the Columbus laboratory module. Vascular cell samples were removed from an incubator, processed with bioink, printed into blood vessels and stowed in a science freezer. NASA says vascular cells bioprinted in weightlessness are far superior to those made on Earth, and the work helps researchers learn how to engineer human tissues and organs for patient treatments. Delaney then processed tumour samples in the Kibo module’s Life Science Glovebox for a cancer study; understanding how tumour cells behave in space may help doctors identify the cellular and genetic influences of cancer cells and develop more targeted therapies, NASA said.

Exercise studies and the rest of the International Space Station crew

Kutryk worked out on the advanced resistive exercise device in the Tranquility module, which mimics the forces of lifting free weights on Earth, while a motion capture system recorded his movements through markers from his hips to his feet. The results may lead to better space workouts and could advance sports technology on Earth, NASA said. Station commander Pyotr Dubrov pointed a camera out of a window of the Zvezda service module to automatically photograph African landmarks in several wavelengths. Roscosmos flight engineer Sergey Teteryatnikov trained on a laptop to operate the European robotic arm, and Anna Kikina transferred water from a Progress 96 cargo spacecraft into the station’s tanks. The two spacewalks are the crew’s next major task.

Why It Matters: More power means more experiments, like the bioprinting and cancer studies running now, and helps keep the station productive.

Also on TrendDesh: CHAPEA Mission 2 crew marks one year inside NASA's simulated Mars habitat, exit set for 31 October

Source: NASA Space Station blog, 20 Oct 2026 · NASA: spacewalks 100 and 101 news conference · TrendDesh, 19 Oct: spacewalk preview

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