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Cosmonauts, Astronauts Gearing Up for Two Spacewalks

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Cosmonauts, Astronauts Gearing Up for Two Spacewalks

Russia's Soyuz MS-18 crew ship (foreground) and Nauka Multipurpose Laboratory Module are pictured docked to the station as it orbited above Africa's Indian Ocean coast.
Russia’s Soyuz MS-18 crew ship (foreground) and Nauka multipurpose laboratory module are pictured docked to the station as it orbited above Africa’s Indian Ocean coast.

Two Expedition 65 cosmonauts will soon exit the International Space Station for the second spacewalk in less than week to continue configuring a Russian science module. Meanwhile, two astronauts are gearing up for another spacewalk, while the rest of the crew conducts space research and lab maintenance.

Russia’s new Nauka multipurpose laboratory module (MLM) saw its first power and ethernet cable connections last Friday during a seven-hour and 54-minute spacewalk with Flight Engineers Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov. The duo from Roscosmos will perform another spacewalk on Thursday at 11 a.m. EDT to continue more Nauka cable connections and install new handrails on the MLM.

The two cosmonauts spent Tuesday getting their Orlan spacesuits ready, organizing spacewalk tools and preparing the Poisk airlock for Thursday’s excursion. NASA TV will begin its live spacewalk coverage at 10:30 a.m. on the NASA app and the agency’s website.

Just three days after that two astronauts will exit the U.S. Quest airlock to modify the Port-4 (P4) truss structure and ready the orbital lab for its third set of Roll-Out Solar Arrays. Commander Akihiko Hoshide from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet from ESA (European Space Agency) will don their U.S. spacesuits on Sunday and begin their spacewalk at 8:30 a.m.

The spacewalking pair today reviewed their tools and the modification kit they will install on P4 then studied the upcoming robotics maneuvers planned for the excursion on a computer. NASA TV will broadcast Sunday’s spacewalk starting at 7 a.m.

The station’s three NASA astronauts focused mainly on a variety of research work as well as the upkeep of the orbital lab.

Flight Engineer Megan McArthur started Tuesday exploring how microgravity affects drug metabolism. She first retrieved genetic samples from a science freezer then analyzed them to help scientists understand biological changes in space and monitor astronaut health.

McArthur then partnered with NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei in the afternoon reviewing their support roles for Sunday’s spacewalk with Hoshide and Pesquet. Vane Hei then joined Flight Engineer Shane Kimbrough and serviced life support components that remove carbon dioxide from the station’s cabin.

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Mark Garcia

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Cosmonauts Conclude First Spacewalk To Ready New Module

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Cosmonauts Conclude First Spacewalk To Ready New Module

Cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov during a spacewalk to connect power and ethernet cables to the Nauka laboratory module.
Cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov during a spacewalk to connect power and ethernet cables to the Nauka laboratory module.

Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov of Roscosmos concluded their spacewalk at 6:35 p.m. EDT after 7 hours and 54 minutes. It is the first of up to 11 spacewalks to prepare the new Nauka multipurpose laboratory module for operations in space.

Novitskiy and Dubrov completed the major objective for today to connect power cables between the recently arrived Nauka module and the Zarya module to enable the routing of electricity from the U.S. segment of the station to Nauka. Checkouts of the two electrical power cable systems from Zarya to Nauka were successful. They also partially installed one new handrail.

Tasks deferred to a future spacewalk are to install two additional handrails to enable spacewalkers to maneuver to and about Nauka more easily, make the final connection for the ethernet cable the duo partially routed today, deploy a science investigation, jettison the ethernet cable reel following the completion of the connection, and take imagery of the Russian segment of the station.

The duo will continue work during a second spacewalk on Thursday, Sept. 9; coverage on NASA Television, the NASA app, and agency’s website will begin at 10:30 a.m. with the spacewalk expected to begin about 11 a.m. and last about five hours.

This was the 10th spacewalk this year and the 242nd overall in support of space station assembly, maintenance and upgrades. Spacewalkers have now spent a total of 63 days, 15 hours, and 35 minutes working outside the station.

It is the second spacewalk for both cosmonauts, both of whom have now spent a total of 15 hours and 13 minutes spacewalking.

In November 2020, the International Space Station surpassed its 20-year milestone of continuous human presence, providing opportunities for unique research and technological demonstrations that help prepare for long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars and also improve life on Earth. In that time, 244 people from 19 countries have visited the orbiting laboratory that has hosted nearly 3,000 research investigations from researchers in 108 countries and areas.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Norah Moran

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