Cosmonauts Begin Spacewalk to Replace Station Hardware
Roscomos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin are seen at work during a spacewalk on Nov. 17, 2022. Prokopyev is in the suit with red stripes and Petelin is in blue. Credit: NASA TV.
Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin began a spacewalk at 10:24 a.m. EDT to retrieve several experiment packages from the Zvezda and Poisk modules and install communications equipment outside the International Space Station.
Coverage of the spacewalk continues on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.
Prokopyev is wearing an Orlan spacesuit with red stripes, while Petelin is wearing the suit with blue stripes. This is the seventh spacewalk in Prokopyev’s career, and the fifth for Petelin. It is the ninth spacewalk at the station in 2023 and the 266th spacewalk for space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.
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.
Astronaut Stepehen Bowen rides the Canadarm2 robotic arm and carrying a roll-out solar array to its installation point on the space station’s starboard truss structure during a spacewalk on June 15, 2023.
Cargo operations are under way aboard the International Space Station amidst a variety of physics and microbiology research activities. The Expedition 69 crew members are also preparing for another spacewalk later this week as they cleanup following last week’s spacewalk.
The SpaceX Dragon cargo vehicle is due to undock from the orbital outpost and return to Earth at the end of June. In the meantime, three NASA flight engineers took turns on Tuesday transferring cargo in and out of the vehicle. Astronaut Stephen Bowen resupplied the station with medical supply kits from inside Dragon then loaded the cargo vehicle with expired supplies for disposal. Woody Hoburg and Frank Rubio each spent about two-and-a-half hours throughout the day moving supplies and hardware in and out of Dragon.
The trio also continued cleaning up following last week’s spacewalk when Hoburg and Bowen installed a roll-out solar array on space station’s Starboard-6 truss segment. Rubio scrubbed water cooling loops inside the spacesuits worn by the two spacewalkers. Hoburg and Bowen wrapped up their day stowing their spacewalking tools and spacesuits inside the Quest airlock.
Flight Engineer Sultan Alneyadi from UAE (United Arab Emirates) completed an experiment run for a study exploring how fuels behave in microgravity possibly improving spacecraft and satellite performance. Later, he joined Hoburg swabbing station surfaces and collecting air samples for microbial incubation and analysis.
Two cosmonauts are getting ready for the ninth spacewalk of the year scheduled to begin about 10:20 a.m. EDT on Thursday. Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin will exit the Poisk airlock and spend about seven hours in the vacuum of space replacing science and communications hardware on the Zvezda and Poisk modules. The duo from Roscosmos spent Tuesday organizing their spacewalking tools and installing components on their Orlan spacesuits.
Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev spent the first part of his day servicing Earth observation hardware then working on orbital plumbing tasks. In the afternoon, he moved to futuristic research wearing a sensor-filled cap that monitored his reactions as he practiced planetary spacecraft and robotic piloting techniques on a computer.
Crew Ends Week Completing Spacewalk, Preparing for Another
NASA astronaut and Expedition 68 Flight Engineer Woody Hoburg points the camera toward himself and takes an out-of-this-world “space-selfie” during a five-hour and 35-minute spacewalk to install a roll-out solar array on the International Space Station’s truss structure.
The International Space Station residents are going into the weekend following a busy week of spacewalk activities. The Expedition 69 crew members finished one spacewalk this week and are gearing up for another one next week.
NASA astronauts Woody Hoburg and Stephen Bowen completed installing the orbital outpost’s sixth roll-out solar array during a spacewalk on Thursday. The pair spent five hours and 35 minutes in the vacuum of space completing the installation job. On June 9, Hoburg and Bowen installed the other roll-out solar array that was delivered inside the SpaceX Dragon cargo vehicle on June 6. The very first roll-out solar array was installed exactly two years ago on June 16, 2021, by Expedition 65 spacewalkers Shane Kimbrough of NASA and Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency). With the six roll-out solar arrays installed and activated the station’s power generating capacity has been increased by about 30%.
Hoburg and Bowen were joined midday Friday by Flight Engineers Frank Rubio of NASA and Sultan Alneyadi of UAE (United Arab Emirates) for a conference with mission controllers to discuss the previous day’s spacewalk. The standard post-spacewalk debriefing saw the quartet discuss experiences and issues they may have encountered to inform future spacewalks.
The four astronauts also had time for other tasks at the end of the week. Bowen, Hoburg, and Alneyadi took turns transferring cargo in and out of the Dragon cargo vehicle. Alneyadi also recharged water tanks inside spacesuits. Rubio had his eyes scanned with the Ultrasound 2 device with remote guidance from doctors on the ground.
The next spacewalk at the orbital outpost is scheduled to take place on Thursday, June 22, when Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin will exit the Poisk airlock. The duo has been spending the week reviewing procedures and readying spacesuits for next week’s planned seven hour spacewalk. The two cosmonauts will go on their fifth spacewalk together to replace Roscosmos science and communications hardware then photograph the condition of the Zvezda service module.
Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev started Friday collecting data from radiation sensors that Hoburg and Bowen wore during their spacewalk. Afterward, he spent the rest of the day servicing a carbon dioxide removal device inside the Zvezda service module and cleaning vent screens in the Zarya module.
The space station is orbiting slightly higher after the 83P fired its engines for 13 minutes on Friday. The orbital reboost raises the station to the correct altitude for the upcoming docking of the ISS Progress 84 resupply mission.
