Astronaut Scott Kelly, a day shy of the record for the longest continuous stay in space by any American, has taken his first steps outside the International Space Station (ISS) since his arrival there in March.
Earlier today (Oct. 28), Kelly and fellow astronaut Kjell Lindgren left the confines of the station to grease its robot arm, route cables, remove insulation, and cover an antimatter detector, according to the Associated Press.
Kelly, known for his impressive Instagram account, hasn’t posted photos from the walk yet, but he did tweet a photo of himself yesterday getting ready for the task.
It’s the first spacewalk Kelly has taken during his year-long mission aboard the space lab to study the effects of weightlessness, isolation, and other stresses of long-term spaceflight on the human body.
Tomorrow (Oct. 29) marks Kelly’s 216th consecutive day in space, meaning he’ll surpass Michael López-Alegría’s record 215 days in space. That record was set in 2007.