Two Russian cosmonauts will make a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) this Monday (18) to activate a new robotic arm.
The nearly seven-hour spacewalk by cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev is being streamed live on NASA’s website.
It is the first of two spacewalks that Artemyev and Matveev are undertaking to configure the engine outside the Russian multipurpose module Nauka.
During Monday’s spacewalk, the pair will install and connect a control panel for the 11.3-meter-long robotic arm. The two will also remove the protective arm covers and install handrails outside the Nauka module.
This robotic arm will be used to assist spacewalkers and transport any items that need to be moved out of the Russian segment of the space station in the future.
Artemyev will be identifiable in the Russian Orlan spacesuit with red stripes, while Matveev will wear a spacesuit with blue stripes.
It is Matveev’s first spacewalk and veteran astronaut Artemyev’s fourth.
It will be the fourth spacewalk outside the space station this year and the 249th overall in support of the assembly, maintenance and upgrade of the in-orbit laboratory.
During a second spacewalk on April 28, the cosmonaut duo will remove thermal blankets used to protect the robotic arm when it launched last year along with the Nauka module. Matveev and Artemyev will also flex the robotic arm’s joints, release restraints and test its grasping ability.
These are the first of upcoming spacewalks that will focus on preparing Nauka and the robotic arm for future use.
Asked how geopolitical tensions with Russia have affected life on the space station, NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn told a news conference on Friday that it’s been a “collegiate and very friendly relationship up here, and we’re working together.” .
NASA crew and Russian cosmonauts regularly share meals and watch movies together, he said.
“We rely on each other for our survival,” Marshburn said, “it’s a dangerous environment. And then we went on with our training; We continue to recognize that we are all here for the same purpose: to explore and keep this space station maintained.”
Source: CNN Brasil
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