Maine astronaut to gear up for more spacewalks

Astronaut Jessica Meir will be leaving the International Space Station for a pair of spacewalks this month.

The Maine native and fellow astronaut Christina Koch are scheduled for spacewalks on Wednesday and again on Jan. 20. The two made made history when they embarked on the first all-women spacewalk in October.

NASA said that for the new spacewalks the pair will finish replacing nickel-hydrogen batteries with lithium-ion batteries that will store energy generated by the space station’s solar array.

Meir, a 1995 graduate of Caribou High School, traveled to the ISS on Sept. 25 for a six-month mission. She's scheduled to return to Earth in the spring.