A French and an American astronaut completed a six-hour spacewalk Sunday as they installed new solar panels to boost power supplies to the International Space Station (ISS), NASA said.

"It is a huge team effort each time and couldn't be happier to return with @astro_kimbrough," tweeted Frenchman Thomas Pesquet, referring to his American colleague Shane Kimbrough.

This NASA TV frame grab captured on June 20, 2021 shows US astronaut Shane Kimbrough seen from French astronaut Thomas Pesquet's helmet camera as the two installed a solar panel array on the International Space Station
This NASA TV frame grab captured on June 20, 2021 shows US astronaut Shane Kimbrough seen from French astronaut Thomas Pesquet's helmet camera as the two installed a solar panel array on the International Space Station NASA TV / Handout

Pesquet is with the European Space Agency, Kimbrough with NASA.

The two men, who arrived on the space station in late April, activated the internal batteries in their space suits at 11H42 GMT, then opened the hatch to the ISS airlock.

They then continued the work of positioning, attaching and deploying six new-generation solar panels, referred to as iROSA, for Roll-Out Solar Array.

French astronaut Thomas Pesquet (L) installs a solar panel on the International Space Station on June 20, 2021
French astronaut Thomas Pesquet (L) installs a solar panel on the International Space Station on June 20, 2021 NASA / Handout

The panels, 60 feet (19 meters) long when deployed, were delivered to the station early this month by an uncrewed SpaceX flight.

The astronauts are slated to complete the installation of a second solar panel array on Friday.

French astronaut Thomas Pesquet and US astronaut Shane Kimbrough make their way back inside the International Space Station after going on a spacewalk to complete the installation of new solar panels to boost power supplies to the ISS.
French astronaut Thomas Pesquet and US astronaut Shane Kimbrough make their way back inside the International Space Station after going on a spacewalk to complete the installation of new solar panels to boost power supplies to the ISS. NASA TV

The new panels, which will power both daily operations and the research and science projects carried out on the ISS, are expected to have a 15-year lifespan.

Sunday's outing was the fourth time the two astronauts had ventured into space together.

In addition to Wednesday's spacewalk, they did so twice on a 2017 mission, attached by tethers to the space station as it orbits the Earth at an altitude of some 250 miles (400 kilometers).

In all, there have been 240 ISS spacewalks as astronauts carry out the work of assembling and maintaining, as well as upgrading, the station.

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