PORTLAND, Maine — The first all-female spacewalk, including Caribou native Jessica Meir and fellow astronaut Christina Koch, will take place later this week after NASA postponed it Wednesday.
The duo will replace a power controller that failed over the weekend, according to a release.
The failed unit prevents a new lithium-ion battery installed earlier this month from providing additional station power, according NASA.
The spacewalk will take place at 7:50 a.m. on either Thursday or Friday, NASA said.
NASA will reschedule three previously scheduled spacewalks designed to replace additional lithium-ion batteries.
The faulty battery charge-discharge unit (BCDU) has not affected station operations, the safety of the crew or the ongoing experiments aboard the space station, NASA said, and the station's overall power supply remains sufficient for all operations.
Koch's spacewalk will be her fourth, while Meir will venture outside the space station for the first time.
NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said Wednesday on Twitter that NASA's "first all-female spacewalk" would be postponed.
Prior to working on the International Space Station, Meir participated in research flights on NASA's reduced gravity aircraft and served as an "aquanaut" in an underwater habitat for NASA Extreme Environment Missions Operations, according to NASA.