NATIONWIDE — NASA is calling a series of spacewalks, beginning Friday, the most complex ever conducted as astronauts fix a device on the International Space Station.

  • Spacewalk is to repair Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer
  • The AMS is designed to study dark matter
  • AMS not designed to be fixed in space; no handles for astronauts to hold onto
  • Get more space coverage here

The space agency is sending two astronauts into the vacuum of space to repair the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), located on the exterior of the International Space Station.

NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan and European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano have been training for years for these spacewalks.

The AMS is a cosmic ray detector that scientists hope will shed light on unseen dark matter and ultimately the creation of our universe.

However, its cooling system has failed and now it needs to be fixed.

NASA says the AMS was never meant to be repaired in space, so the astronauts will be heading to a spot outside the ISS where there are no handles.

In addition, the spacewalkers will use more than 20 specially designed tools to cut and splice eight cooling tubes to connect to a new system.

Astronauts have never cut and reconnected fluid lines during a spacewalk. Astronauts normally do not use sharp tools because of the potential for puncturing the spacesuit.

"(Astronauts) weren't designed to have access with the suit, so when they get in to the area right behind this debris shield, they're very constrained," said AMS Program Manager Ken Bollweg, "they'll get in there with their hands, but then their head, their shoulders, the rest of the suit, the workstation, everything is interfering with what they're doing in that tiny space."

Friday's 6 and a half hour spacewalk is about preparing the worksite for at least three more spacewalks.

The pair will remove the debris shield covering the AMS and let it go, eventually allowing it to burn up in the atmosphere.

If all goes as planned, the second spacewalk is set for next Friday and then the third and fourth spacewalks, considered the riskiest, will happen in December.