WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

Expedition 48 Commander Jeff Williams (pictured) and Flight Engineer Kate Rubins of NASA conducted a five-hour and 58-minute spacewalk on Aug. 19, 2016. The pair installed the first of two international docking adapters (IDAs) that will be used for the future arrivals of Boeing and SpaceX commercial crew spacecraft in development under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Commercial crew flights from Florida’s Space Coast to the International Space Station will restore America’s human launch capability and increase the time U.S. crews can dedicate to scientific research, which is helping prepare astronauts for deep space missions, including the journey to Mars.