It's a wrap! NASA astronauts successfully complete 2018's first spacewalk

The spacewalk was the 206th in support of space station assembly and maintenance, the third in Mark Vande Hei’s career and the first for Scott Tingle.

Astronaut Joe Acaba (left) assists astronaut Scott Tingle during a fit check in his US spacesuit. (Image courtesy: NASA)

New Delhi: NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) successfully wrapped up the year's first spacewalk on Tuesday, January 23.

Expedition 54 Flight Engineers Mark Vande Hei and Scott Tingle replaced a Latching End Effector (LEE) on the station’s robotic arm, Canadarm2.

Spacewalks are events in support of the ISS assembly and maintenance, that science and space enthusiasts look forward to with the initiation of every consecutive expedition launch.

The spacewalk was led by Mark Vande Hei who will also be leading the second spacewalk scheduled for January 29 and will be joined by Flight Engineer Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

The January 29 spacewalk will be devoted to securing the degraded LEE B on the station’s Mobile Base System rail car as a spare.

The spacewalk was the 206th in support of space station assembly and maintenance, the third in Vande Hei’s career and the first for Tingle.

Spacewalkers have now spent a total of 53 days, 13 hours, and 49 minutes working outside the station in support of assembly and maintenance of the orbiting laboratory.