NASA plans 2 January spacewalks at ISS. Here's what to know, how to watch
- - NASA plans 2 January spacewalks at ISS. Here's what to know, how to watch
Eric Lagatta, USA TODAYJanuary 8, 2026 at 2:39 AM
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NASA plans 2 January spacewalks at ISS. Here's what to know, how to watch
A NASA astronaut will soon make history when he and one other step outside the International Space Station on the first spacewalk of 2026.
NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman are due to conduct the next spacewalk outside the orbital laboratory Thursday, Jan. 8.
As Fincke's 10th spacewalk, the mission will pave the way for him to tie the record with Peggy Whitson for most spacewalks by a NASA astronaut. Cardman will be making her first-ever spacewalk.
The spacewalk is the first of two scheduled for January, both of which NASA will cover live.
1 / 132025 spaceflight in photos. See images of Blue Origin, SpaceX missionsFirefly's Blue Ghost lunar lander captures its shadow on the moon's surface after completing a successful landing March 2 near a volcanic feature on the moon called Mons Latreille. The vehicle became the first of two landers manufactured by a U.S. company to reach the moon is 2025 in crucial missions to lay the groundwork for NASA to return humans to the lunar surface in the years ahead.
Here's everything to know about the upcoming spacewalks, and how you can watch a livestream of them.
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What is the International Space Station?
The International Space Station has been stationed in low-Earth orbit for more than 25 years, typically about 260 miles high, where it has been home to astronauts from all over the world. Throughout its lifespan, the station has served as a test bed for scientific research in microgravity and has in years past opened itself up to private commercial missions.
The orbital laboratory is operated through a global partnership of space agencies, including NASA, Roscosmos, the European Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.
More than 280 spacefarers from 26 countries have visited the International Space Station, including 170 from the United States alone, according to NASA.
About 356 feet long, the station is bigger than a six-bedroom house and has six sleeping quarters, two bathrooms, a gym and a 360-degree view bay window. The outpost also has enough docks for up to eight spacecraft to be stationed at one time.
1 / 10International Space Station marks 25 years with humans on board. See photosNASA astronaut Mike Fincke inserts a cryogenic storage unit containing research samples into a science freezer for preservation and later analysis on the International Space Station.What is a spacewalk? How often do astronauts exit ISS?
A spacewalk, often called extra-vehicular activity in space industry parlance, refers to any activity an astronaut undertakes outside of a space station or spacecraft. Spacewalks require suiting up in specialized suits and exposing oneself to the vacuum of outer space.
The next spacewalk – the 278th in the station's history – will be the first of 2026 and the latest since two Russian astronauts conducted extra-vehicular activity Oct. 28.
Together, Fincke (in a red-striped suit) and Cardman (in an unmarked suit) are due to conduct work outside the station to lay the groundwork for the future installation of solar arrays.
Two more NASA astronauts – whose names have not yet been announced – are due to conduct a spacewalk Jan. 15 to replace a high-definition camera and complete other tasks outside the outpost's Harmony module.
How to watch NASA coverage of upcoming spacewalks
The next spacewalk on Jan. 8 is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. ET and last for about 6 1/2 hours, according to NASA.
Coverage will be available on the agency's streaming app, NASA+ – also available on YouTube and the agency’s X account – as well as Amazon Prime. Netflix, which provides some live NASA coverage, including rocket launches, is not promoting the event on its platform.
The second spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 7:10 a.m. ET Thursday, Jan. 15.
1 / 112025 was a year of cosmic discoveries. Here's a look back at 6NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope last observed come 3I/ATLAS on Nov. 30, about four months after Hubble's first look at the interstellar comet. 3I/ATLAS became one of the biggest cosmic stories of the year when astronomers deemed it to be the third-ever discovered interstellar object in our solar system originating from an entirely different part of the galaxy.Who is on the International Space Station?
Seven people are living and working about the International Space Station.
NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Russians Sergey Mikaev and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, who arrived at the end of November on a Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft, are the newest additions at the orbital laboratory.
Also on the station are four astronauts who are part of the joint NASA and SpaceX mission known as Crew-11. Among them are NASA astronauts Cardman and Fincke, as well as Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA); and Russian Oleg Platonov, a Roscosmos cosmonaut.
Crew-11 launched Aug. 1 from the Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral, Florida, as the spacefarers made their venture to space aboard a Dragon capsule that was propelled into orbit atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
The four Crew-11 astronauts' time in space, however, is coming to an end. As early as February, the Crew-12 contingent is due to replace them at the station.
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASA to livestream 2 January spacewalks. Time, date, how to watch
Source: “AOL Breaking”
