Cosmonauts Begin Spacewalk to Move Experiment Airlock
Cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin work to remove a radiator from the space station’s Rassvet module during a spacewalk on April 19, 2023.
Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin began a spacewalk at 4:00 p.m. EDT to relocate an experiment airlock from the Rassvet module to the Nauka science module with assistance from European robotic arm operator cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. 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 fifth spacewalk in Prokopyev’s career, and the third for Petelin. It is the fifth spacewalk at the station in 2023 and the 262nd spacewalk for space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.
Axiom Mission 2 No Longer Targeting Early May Launch
The SpaceX Dragon Endeavour carrying four Axiom Mission 1 astronauts approaches the space station above the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Morocco on April 9, 2022.
NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX are working together to identify the best availability opportunity to launch the Axiom Mission 2 to the space station; we are no longer targeting opportunities in early May. More information on the updated target launch date will be shared soon.
Cosmonaut Spacewalkers Exiting Station Soon to Move Airlock
Expedition 69 Commander Sergey Prokopyev (left) is conducting his fifth career spacewalk. Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin (right) is conducting his third spacewalk.
Prokopyev and Petelin will exit out of the Poisk module at about 4:05 p.m. EDT. Prokopyev is wearing the Orlan spacesuit with red stripes, while Petelin is wearing the suit with blue stripes. This is the fifth spacewalk in Prokopyev’s career, and the third for Petelin. It is the fifth spacewalk at the station in 2023 and the 262nd spacewalk for space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.
Crew Preps for Spacewalk and Dragon Relocation During Research
The space station’s Nauka science module, Prichal docking module, and Soyuz MS-23 crew ship are pictured as the orbital lab soared 259 miles above north Africa.
Two cosmonauts are getting ready to exit the International Space Station on Wednesday to conduct the year’s fifth spacewalk. The rest of the Expedition 69 crew spent Tuesday preparing to relocate the SpaceX Crew Dragon spaceship, setting up robotic free-flyers, and working on life support maintenance.
Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin of Roscosmos are finalizing their procedure reviews and completing their Orlan spacesuit configurations today ahead of a spacewalk planned to start at 4:05 p.m. EDT on Wednesday. The duo will spend about six-and-a-half hours removing an experiment airlock from the Rassvet module then installing it on the Nauka science module. Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev will be inside the station assisting the spacewalkers and maneuvering the European robotic arm with the airlock in its grip.
Coming up on Saturday, four crew members will enter the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour and move the spaceship to a new station port. NASA Flight Engineers Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg will command and pilot, respectively, Endeavour while flanked by Flight Engineers Sultan Alneyadi of UAE (United Arab Emirates) and Fedyaev of Roscosmos. The quartet will undock from the Harmony module’s space-facing port at 7:10 a.m. then redock to Harmony’s forward port at 7:53 a.m.
The quartet joined each other on Tuesday and checked the pressure suits they will wear during their short ride inside Dragon. The foursome also reviewed their relocation procedures, checked vehicle hatches, and configured the spacecraft cabin.
NASA TV is covering both the spacewalk and the Dragon relocation activities live on the agency’s app and website. Spacewalk coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday and the Dragon relocation broadcast begins at 6 a.m. on Saturday.
Robotics and bioprinting were the top research priorities on Tuesday in the midst of the spacewalk and Dragon preparations. Hoburg turned on an Astrobee robotic free-flyer in the Kibo laboratory module during the morning and tested its operations in conjunction with mission controllers. The robotics work is being done to demonstrate ways to control the free-flyers using student-written code. NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio worked on the BioFabrication Facility (BFF) replacing and installing components. The BFF is designed to print organ-like tissues in microgravity and learn how to manufacture whole, fully-functioning human organs in space.
Bowen and Sultan partnered together during the morning inside the Destiny laboratory module working on life support gear. The duo took turns collecting water samples and replacing components from inside Destiny’s oxygen generation system.
Cosmonauts Prep for Wednesday Spacewalk as Astronauts Relax
Spacewalkers (from left) Stephen Bowen and Sultan Alneyadi work on the space station’s starboard truss structure during a seven-hour and one-minute spacewalk on April 28, 2023.
The Expedition 69 crew is getting ready for its second spacewalk in less than a week at the International Space Station. In the meantime, several astronauts are relaxing today following last week’s power upgrades spacewalk.
Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin, both from Roscosmos, spent Monday configuring the Orlan spacesuits they will wear during their spacewalk planned to start at 4:05 p.m. EDT on Wednesday and last about six hours. The pair checked the Orlans’ life support systems, tested communications gear, then installed video cameras and lights on their suits. They will finalize their tool configurations and procedure reviews on Tuesday.
Spacewalkers Prokopyev and Petelin, who are going on their third excursion together, will exit the Poisk airlock on Wednesday, translate toward the Rassvet module, and uninstall an experiment airlock. Next, Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev will be inside the station commanding the European robotic arm (ERA) to grapple the airlock, move it, then attach it to the Nauka science module. The two spacewalkers will then connect power cables to the airlock completing its installation on Nauka. NASA TV, on the agency’s app and website, will begin its live spacewalk coverage at 3:30 p.m.
Fedyaev spent Monday focusing mainly on life support maintenance and orbital plumbing duties. He also had time to participate in an ongoing study exploring ways international crews and mission controllers from the around world can communicate more effectively. Fedyaev will spend Tuesday activating the ERA in preparation for Wednesday’s spacewalk.
The rest of the station’s crew had Monday off following last week’s spacewalk and post-spacewalk cleanup activities. Flight Engineers Stephen Bowen of NASA and Sultan Alneyadi of UAE (United Arab Emirates) relaxed at the beginning of the workweek following Friday’s seven-hour and 1-minute spacewalk that saw them route cables and install insulation on the orbital outpost’s starboard-side truss structure. NASA astronauts Woody Hoburg and Frank Rubio, who assisted the spacewalkers from inside the station and helped them clean up after the spacewalk last week, also had the day off.
