Two stranded astronauts conduct first space walk together

NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore on Thursday participated in their first spacewalk together on the outside of the International Space Station. Williams went on a spacewalk earlier this month with another NASA astronaut, Nick Hague, who is also posted on the station. NASA said on Wednesday that it was working hard with the private space exploration company SpaceX to bring Wilmore and Williams home.

What’s the deal with them getting home again? Williams and Wilmore were slated to return to Earth last year, but their spacecraft experienced malfunctions while transporting them up to the International Space Station. NASA decided that the craft was not suitable for bringing them back to earth. The agency chose instead to revise the manifest to allow another spacecraft inbound to the ISS to bring the two astronauts home on its return trip. The agency said last year their return would likely take place in February.

Dig deeper: Read Lauren Canterberry’s report in The SIft from last month about a NASA spacecraft surviving the closest-ever recorded encounter with the sun.