'Twas the night before Christmas, and high above your house, U.S. astronauts Mike Hopkins and Rick Mastracchio repaired the International Space Station.
It took nearly seven hours for the two men to successfully remove a degraded pump module and start up a new one. The engineers completed the repairs in two parts; the first on December 22, and the second on December 24. It was just the second time in NASA history a spacewalk occurred on Christmas Eve.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Labubu: the 'creepy' dolls sparking brawls in the shopsIn the Spotlight Craze for the pint-sized soft toys has reached fever pitch among devotees
-
The top period dramas to stream nowThe Week Recommends Heaving bosoms and billowing shirts are standard fare in these historical TV classics
-
Women need more pain management during gynecological proceduresUnder the radar Pain should no longer be ignored
