Watch: Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore take first spacewalk together after 8 months

"Here we go," Mr Wilmore remarked as he exited the station, 420 kilometres above Earth, in a video livestreamed by NASA on X.

NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore took their first spacewalk together on Thursday. This was the first time the two left the International Space Station in almost 8 months.

The astronauts traveled to the ISS in June 2024 for a test mission, but their return was extended by eight months to February, after the Boeing Starliner capsule they arrived in was deemed unfit to return them to Earth.

Williams and Wilmore floated out to perform maintenance work and wipe the station's exterior for evidence of any microbes that might still be alive after launching from Earth and escaping from the vents.

"Here we go," Wilmore remarked as he exited the station, 420 kilometres above Earth, in a video livestreamed by NASA on X.

The spacewalk lasted 6.5 hours. The primary objective of the walk was to remove a radio frequency group antenna assembly from the station’s truss and collecting samples of surface material for analysis from the Destiny laboratory and the Quest airlock.

Williams did a spacewalk two weeks ago with another NASA astronaut, however this was Wilmore's first time outside this trip, according to a report by HT.

WIlliams surpassed former astronaut Peggy Whitson's total spacewalking time of 60 hours and 21 minutes, NASA announced.

NASA went on to explain that despite efforts to sanitize space equipment, humans bring their own microbiomes to space. It is essential to understand how well current space designs prevent contamination.

"We can’t sanitize everything we send to space and humans carry their own microbiomes and continuously regenerate microbial communities. It’s important to understand and address how well current designs and processes prevent or limit the spread of human contamination," NASA said.

NASA added, "Humans carry their own microbiomes and continuously regenerate microbial communities. It’s important to understand and address how well current designs and processes prevent or limit the spread of human contamination."

US President Donald Trump and SpaceX Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk issued separate statements Tuesday night in the US, claiming that SpaceX will “go get” two astronauts on the International Space Station “as soon as possible.” This came after NASA's plans to bring the astronauts back home on a SpaceX capsule around March.