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NASA's 2 stuck astronauts take their first spacewalk together

They stepped outside the International Space Station for the first time together, almost eight months after becoming residents there.

Removed a defective antenna and thoroughly cleaned the outside of the space station to eliminate any remaining microorganisms that could have survived the launch from Earth and made it through air vents.

After a few initial difficulties with the stubborn antenna, the astronauts finally managed to pry it loose almost four hours after stepping out of the hatch. Mission Control advised them to keep an eye out for any loose parts that might have broken off during the removal process.

On his job 260 miles (420 kilometers) up, Williams established a new spacewalking record for female astronauts.

Boeing's brand-new spacecraft, the Starliner, ran into so many problems that NASA decided to bring it back empty.

This left the two test pilots, both retired Navy captains, drifting in space until SpaceX can transport them back home. Unfortuntately, that won't occur until late March or early April at the earliest, which will stretch their mission to a lengthy 10 months due to a SpaceX delay in sending their replacements.

Two weeks ago, Wilmore ventured outside again, this time as part of a different NASA astronaut. It marked Wilmore's first time venturing outside on this particular trip. Both individuals had previously completed spacewalks during their previous space station stays.

Williams set a new record for women in spacewalking time, surpassing Peggy Whitson's previous record of 60 hours and 21 minutes. Whitson accumulated her record over the course of 10 spacewalks.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department is supported financially by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all of its content.

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