spacewalk

American  

[speys-wawk] / ˈspeɪsˌwɔk /

Or space walk

noun

1. a task or mission performed by an astronaut outside a spacecraft in space.

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verb (used without object)

1. to execute a task or mission outside a spacecraft in space.

spacewalk British  

/ ˈspeɪsˌwɔːk /

noun

1. Technical name: extravehicular activity.  the act or an instance of floating and manoeuvring in space, outside but attached by a lifeline to a spacecraft

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verb

1. (intr) to float and manoeuvre in space while outside but attached to a spacecraft

Other Word Forms

• spacewalker
  noun

Etymology

Origin of spacewalk

First recorded in 1960–65, Americanism; space + walk

Explanation

When an astronaut gets out of an orbiting spacecraft, she spacewalks. The first person to spacewalk was Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, who floated outside his capsule in 1965. The verb spacewalk is precisely what you might imagine: to "walk" in space, drifting in orbit while tethered to a spacecraft. It's also a noun, the name for such an activity: "The first U.S. spacewalk occurred in 1965, when Ed White exited the Gemini spacecraft for 21 minutes." Astronauts today routinely perform spacewalks in order to repair space stations and do other outer-space maintenance tasks.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

spacewalk

She also participated in the first all-female spacewalk.

From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2026

That total stands as the highest amount of spacewalk time achieved by a woman and the fourth-highest cumulative total of all time.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 22, 2026

Astronauts Fincke and Cardman were to carry out the approximately 6.5-hour spacewalk to perform power upgrade work.

From Barron's ● Jan. 8, 2026

Astronauts would fly to the moon, perform a spacewalk, obtain samples of the boulder, and then rocket back to Earth.

From Slate ● Dec. 9, 2025

It’s like I’m on a spacewalk and somebody is sawing through the tether connecting me to the mother ship.

From "Shine!" by J.J. and Chris Grabenstein