See Men at Work—in Space

Scott Kelly and Tim Kopra had a problem at the office—which is a very bad thing, since in their case the office is the International Space Station. With a Russian cargo vehicle set to bring up much-needed supplies, they learned that the station’s robotic arm, which moves along a center truss aboard a sort of small rail car, had gotten stuck just 4 inches (10 cm) short of where it needs to be to grapple the cargo ship when it arrives.

Watch Live: Astronauts Return to Earth After a Year in Space

The only answer was to don their extravehicular activity suits, go outside and fix the problem. They did just that on Dec. 21, and the supply ship is now cleared to arrive. In these two pictures, taken during the spacewalk, Kelly wears the red stripes that are the insignia of the commander. Kopra, the junior member of this road gang, is in all white.