Spacewalkers successfully replace broken "wrist" joint in space station's robot arm

Key Points:

• NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Chris Williams successfully replaced a broken 200-pound wrist joint on the International Space Station's 58-foot-long Canadarm2 robotic arm during a seven-hour, 20-minute spacewalk.
• The joint failure was detected on May 27 when controllers noticed abnormal current draw and limited movement, leading to the decision to replace the faulty joint with a spare stored externally.
• The astronauts detached the arm's latching end effector (LEE) and two healthy joints to access and replace the failed joint, then reassembled the arm and confirmed its full functionality with good electrical connections.
• The removed faulty joint was brought back to the airlock for return to Earth and eventual refurbishment, with plans to relaunch it for future use on the station.
• The Canadarm2 is essential for ISS operations, including capturing cargo ships and supporting maintenance tasks, and NASA will continue maintaining it until the space station's planned retirement by 2030.