15 jaw-dropping spacewalk images

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Fearless astronauts push the limits in these epic spacewalk photos.

JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata during his second spacewalk.
JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata during his second spacewalk. (Image credit: NASA)

Astronauts are some of the most adventurous explorers among us. In this thrilling gallery, American and international astronauts undertake various spacewalks for research and repair against the stunning backdrop of Earth.

1. Helping Hubble

(Image credit: NASA)

Astronaut Steven L. Smith moves along the Hubble Space Telescope while docked in the space shuttle Discovery's cargo bay. Behind him is a distant view of Australia on a Feb. 15, 1997 spacewalk.

2. Space selfie

(Image credit: NASA)

Woody Hoburg, a NASA astronaut and Expedition 68 flight engineer, takes a "space-selfie" during a spacewalk on June 9, 2023.

3. Building the ISS

(Image credit: NASA)

Mission specialists Jerry L. Ross and James H. Newman work together on the first International Space Station (ISS) assembly mission on Dec. 6, 1998.

4. Mind the glare

(Image credit: NASA)

Expedition 35 flight engineer Chris Cassidy completes a spacewalk on May 11, 2013.

5. Teamwork in space

(Image credit: NASA)

Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn, Expedition 35 flight engineers, inspect and replace a pump controller box on the ISS on a May 11, 2013 spacewalk.

6. Activate shields

(Image credit: NASA)

Expedition 69 crew members Dmitri Petelin and Sergey Prokopyev, both from Russia's space agency Roscosmos, install orbital debris shields on the ISS during a spacewalk on Aug. 9, 2023.

7. Hello from space

(Image credit: NASA)

Astronaut Robert L. Curbeam, STS-98 mission specialist, completes a spacewalk ahead of schedule on Feb. 12, 2001.

8. Job with a view

(Image credit: NASA)

Josh Cassada, Expedition 68 flight engineer and NASA spacewalker, works on the ISS on Dec. 22, 2022.

9. Sideways work

(Image credit: NASA)

NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen and United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi on an April 28, 2023 spacewalk.

10. First time for everything

(Image credit: NASA)

Nicole Mann, NASA astronaut and Expedition 68 flight engineer on her first career spacewalk on Jan. 20, 2023, to install a modification kit on the ISS's starboard truss structure.

11.Working on Hubble

(Image credit: NASA)

Astronauts John M. Grunsfeld, payload commander, and Richard M. Linnehan, mission specialist, participate in their first spacewalk to perform work on Hubble on March 4, 2002.

12. The glowing Earth

(Image credit: NASA)

Astronaut Stephen Bowen moves outside the ISS on his eighth career spacewalk on April 28, 2023.

13. Outdoor work

(Image credit: NASA)

Astronauts Stephen Bowen and Sultan Alneyadi on a spacewalk on April 28, 2023.

14. Floating with Hubble

(Image credit: NASA)

Astronaut John M. Grunsfeld floats past Hubble as it is docked in the space shuttle Columbia's cargo bay during a spacewalk on March 8, 2002.

15. Discoveries abound

(Image credit: NASA)

Astronaut Andrew S. W. Thomas, mission specialist, in the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle Discovery during a March 2001 spacewalk.

Annie Corinne Shaink
Annie Corinne Shaink
Production Editor

Annie is the production editor at Live Science. She has a background in writing and digital media and studied English and Anthropology at Fordham University in New York City.