Russian cosmonauts are taking a spacewalk to lay cable for a new lab that’s due to arrive at the International Space Station in a few months.
Fyodor Yurchikhin and Aleksandr Misurkin floated outside on Friday.
It’s one month since their Italian crewmate almost drowned when leaking water flooded his helmet during a spacewalk. Luca Parmitano’s spacesuit was provided by NASA.
Today’s spacewalkers are wearing Russian-made suits that differ from the US version.
NASA is still investigating last month’s incident. The problem appears to be in the life-support backpack. The spacesuit will be sent back for analysis early next year.
Until the trouble is identified and resolved, US spacewalks are on hold.
The Russian Space Agency plans to launch a new science lab by year’s end. It’s the last major piece due at the orbiting outpost, active since 1998, and it will replace a 12-year-old Russian docking compartment that doubles as an air lock.
Today’s is the third of six Russian spacewalks planned for this year. The next one is next Thursday, again by Yurchikhin and Misurkin. The two cosmonauts teamed up for a spacewalk in June.
Yurchikhin hitched a ride to the work site on the end of a 14-metres boom operated by Misurkin. Two big reels of power and Ethernet cable accompanied him.
Yurchikhin asked his partner if he was positioned properly.
“You look great,” Misurkin assured him. “You look perfect.”
“Thank you,” Yurchikhin replied. “I don’t want to blush.”
“It just looks like you’re in space,” Misurkin said. .
“Everything is black around you.”
They secured the cables to the space station, using handrails and hooks.
The four other space station residents — two Americans, another Russian and Parmitano — monitored the spacewalk from inside. Russian Mission Control outside Moscow directed the operation.