Astronauts repair black hole observatory, inspect cosmic ray detector on ISS spacewalk

An astronaut in a white spacesuit works outside a space station opposite a space capsule.

An X-ray observatory used to study neutron stars is “back in the black” and a cosmic ray detector is ready for possible future upgrades after two astronauts completed a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS).

Nick Hague worked to repair the Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer, or NICER, mounted to the outside of the space station, before he and Expedition 72 commander Suni Williams inspected the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) during a six-hour EVA (extravehicular activity) on Thursday (Jan. 16).