Astronauts are taking their second spacewalk in two weeks, this time for some radiator work at the International Space Station.
Space station commander Jeffrey Williams and Kate Rubins floated outside Thursday morning. Their main job is to fold up a 44-foot-long radiator that’s no longer in use, to keep it safe from space junk.
The radiator was extended in 2012 to help stop a coolant leak. But the leak ended up being elsewhere. Another team of astronauts attempted the radiator retraction last year, but couldn’t complete the job, so it fell into Williams and Rubins’ gloved hands. NASA wants to preserve the radiator as a spare.
The two installed a new docking port during a spacewalk Aug. 19.
Williams returns to Earth next week. He holds the NASA record for most accumulated time in orbit.