Space station commander Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Kornienko of the Russian Federal Space Agency are installing new equipment on the Russian segment of the station. It is Kornienko’s second venture outside the station – a $100 billion research laboratory owned and operated by a partnership of 15 nations.
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They will also install fasteners on communications antennas and replace an aging antenna used for the rendezvous and docking of visiting vehicles at Russian docking ports.
The cosmonauts’ primary task will be to install gap spanners on the station’s hull, which makes it easier for spacewalkers to move around while doing their work. The duo is also set to remove an experiment intended to study the impact of the space plasma environment on the station. This can affect power supply systems and other equipment.
Those curious about the interior of the space station can now go on an excursion through the ISS from the comfort of their himes. This will be number 10 in spacewalks for Padlaka.
Kornienko is five months into a one-year mission on the space station, along with NASA astronaut Scott Kelly. He has been in space more than any other human. Padalka will be EV1, extravehicular crew member 1, and Kornienko will be EV2. Both will wear Russian Orlan spacesuits bearing blue stripes. A Russian rocket, Progress 59, launched in April and burned up during re-entry in May.
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NASA Television will broadcast live coverage of a six-hour spacewalk by two Russian crew members aboard the worldwide Space Station beginning at 9:45 a.m. EDT Monday, August 10.
