Cosmonauts Exiting Station for Spacewalk Live on NASA TV
Expedition 69 Commander Sergey Prokopyev (left) and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin (right) are conducting their fifth spacewalk together today.
NASA coverage is underway for today’s spacewalk with Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin. The duo will retrieve several experiment packages from the Zvezda and Poisk modules and install communications equipment. Coverage of the spacewalk is on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.
Prokopyev and Petelin will exit out of the Poisk module about 10:20 a.m. EDT. Prokopyev is wearing the Orlan spacesuit with red stripes, while Petelin is wearing the suit with blue stripes.
This will be the seventh spacewalk in Prokopyev’s career, and the fifth for Petelin. It will be the ninth spacewalk at the station in 2023 and the 266th spacewalk for space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.
Cosmonauts Go for Spacewalk as Crew Works Cargo, Maintenance
Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev works outside the International Space Station during a spacewalk on May 3, 2023.
Preparations continue for Thursday’s spacewalk to replace hardware on the International Space Station. The Expedition 69 crew also stayed focused on ongoing cargo transfers while conducting a variety of lab maintenance on Wednesday.
Two cosmonauts are completing their task reviews and spacesuit configurations ahead of a spacewalk set to begin about 10:20 a.m. EDT on Thursday. Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin will spend about seven hours in the vacuum of space replacing science and communications hardware on the Zvezda and Poisk modules. NASA TV will begin its live spacewalk coverage at 9:45 a.m. on the agency’s app and website.
The duo started Wednesday morning reviewing the spacewalk timeline and the steps necessary to complete the hardware replacement work and the photographic inspections afterward. Following the timeline review, Prokopyev and Petelin installed lights, cameras, and batteries on their spacesuits with assistance from NASA Flight Engineer Stephen Bowen. This will be the cosmonauts’ fifth spacewalk together and the ninth spacewalk of 2023.
Bowen started his day with a hearing assessment before working on stowage activities in the Zenith-1 truss segment attached to the Unity module. He then spent his afternoon with NASA Flight Engineer Woody Hoburg transferring cargo in and out of the SpaceX Dragon cargo vehicle. Earlier, Hoburg swapped out components inside the Tranquility module’s waste and hygiene compartment, or the station’s bathroom.
Roscosmos Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev joined his cosmonaut crewmates Wednesday morning for the spacewalk timeline review. Next, he gathered radiation sensors the spacewalkers will wear on their spacesuits on Thursday. In the afternoon, Fedyaev treated surfaces in the Zarya module with an anti-fungal agent then wrapped up his day with a hearing assessment.
NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio began his day inside the Columbus laboratory module swapping portable computer hard drives. He then spent the rest of the day inside the Quest airlock checking a battery charger and inspecting power cables. UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi strapped sensors to himself to monitor his breathing volume and blood pressure while he pedaled on an exercise bike for the Cardiobreath human research study.
NASA, Department of Agriculture Advance Exploration, Science
NASA and the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) signed a memorandum of understanding Wednesday strengthening the collaboration between the two agencies, including efforts to improve agricultural and Earth science research, technology, agricultural management, and the application of science data and models to agricultural decision making.
NASA Invites Media to Northrop Grumman Cargo Launch to Space Station
Media accreditation is open for launch of the next commercial resupply services mission to deliver NASA science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station.
