Update: NASA cuts live broadcast of today's astronaut spacewalk

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NASA was airing live coverage of its seven-hour US Spacewalk today, but it has been postponed due to "Debris Avoidance"

NASA spacewalk on Dec 21 2022
(Image credit: NASA)

*Update: NASA has had to postpone today's planned spacewalk mission, which was due to air live all day.

NASA reports that "data on a fragment of Russian Fregat-SB upper-stage debris showed a close approach to the International Space Station". We don't know when the spacewalk will be, but managers at the agency are currently working out the next possible opportunity to perform the solar-installing mission. Read more below.

We've been a little obsessed with NASA operations this year, thanks mainly to the James Webb Space Telescope. It was officially launched last December and the images started rolling in by July – scenes so beautiful they bring scientists to tears.

Today we're in for another out-of-this-world treat. NASA is broadcasting live coverage of its spacewalk, and we'll be able to watch the whole thing, as two astronauts install the fourth solar array on the International Space Station. 

You can watch the live coverage on NASA's YouTube channel, and we've also dropped the video link. below. It will begin at 6.30 EST (11.30 GMT), but the two astronauts Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio will switch on their spacesuit battery packs from 7.45 AM EST (12.45 UTC), and then the whole spacewalk is expected to last around seven hours!

How to watch the live US Spacewalk

The space agency will also provide live coverage of the spacewalk on NASA Television, the app, and the agency’s website.

To help you distinguish between the duo, Rubio will be wearing a suit with red stripes and Cassada will be wearing an unmarked suit. Both are part of NASA's SpaceX Crew-5 mission, and they've already conducted two spacewalks before.

According to Space.com today's spacewalk was pushed back two days because the agency wanted to use cameras on the end of its robotic, 57.7-foot-long (17.6 meters) Canadarm2 so that it might inspect a leaky Russian Soyuz capsule on the International Space Station while the astronauts are up there.

Canadarm2 and the 360 camera

(Image credit: ESA/NASA–Thomas Pesquet)

NASA adds: "Cassada and Rubio are in the midst of a science mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions, including NASA’s Artemis missions to the Moon."

Since you're here, you might also like our guides to the best deep-space telescopes and the best camera for astrophotography.

Lauren Scott
Lauren Scott
Freelance contributor/former Managing Editor

Lauren is a writer, reviewer, and photographer with ten years of experience in the camera industry. She's the former Managing Editor of Digital Camera World, and previously served as Editor of Digital Photographer magazine, Technique editor for PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine, and Deputy Editor of our sister publication, Digital Camera Magazine. An experienced journalist and freelance photographer, Lauren also has bylines at Tech Radar, Space.com, Canon Europe, PCGamesN, T3, Stuff, and British Airways' in-flight magazine. When she's not testing gear for DCW, she's probably in the kitchen testing yet another new curry recipe or walking in the Cotswolds with her Flat-coated Retriever.