NASA astronauts go on spacewalk for space station upgrades

HOUSTON, Texas -- Change the batteries.

It's a task that sounds simple enough, unless you're floating in outer space.

Astronauts Chris Cassidy and Robert Behnken suited up Friday and left the confines of the International Space Station to replace aging nickel-hydrogen batteries.

During the spacewalk, the astronauts relied on help and monitoring from the Mission Control Center at the Johnson Space Center in Houston to help them complete their tasks.

The operation took seven hours to complete. The batteries are part of the power system that's fed by eight solar arrays attached to the ISS.

Behnken arrived at the station on May 31 along with Doug Hurley aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon. Cassidy is the commander of Expedition 63 and arrived in April.

Another spacewalk is planned for July 1.

The astronauts lifted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket last month, becoming the first to leave U.S. soil for space in nine years.

SpaceX became the first private company to launch people into orbit, a feat achieved previously by only three governments: the U.S., Russia and China.