CHICAGO (NewsNation Now) — Two NASA astronauts are setting their spacesuits to battery power and venturing outside the International Space Station Wednesday.

It’s the first of two spacewalks to be performed less than a week apart in an effort to conduct upgrades and maintenance outside the station.

Astronauts Michael Hopkins and Victor Glover will work on the European Space Agency’s Columbus module during Wednesday’s spacewalk, which will last about 6 and a half hours.

Hopkins and Glover launched to the International Space Station on Crew-1 SpaceX Crew Dragon, named Resilience, last November. It was the first full-fledged taxi flight for NASA by a private company.

Glover, the first Black astronaut on a long-term space station mission, spoke with NewsNation last month about his crew’s mission. It’s the U.S. Navy commander’s first time in space, and Wednesday also marks his first spacewalk.

To identify the pair, Hopkins is wearing a spacesuit with red stripes, and Glover is wearing a spacesuit with no stripes. 

Hopkins and Glover will conduct another spacewalk on Monday to complete long-term battery upgrade work, NASA said.

The space agency will also hold a briefing Wednesday on the upcoming landing of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover. Perseverance, which looks for signs of ancient life on the Red Planet, is expected to land on Feb. 18.