As they make preparations for the Russian ISS’s latest docking port, a pair of cosmonauts will conduct the first spacewalk in the year.
While the module Prichal was attached to space station on November 1, 2013, additional work was required to get it ready to be used for the first time.
Cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov will install handrails, rendezvous antennas, a television camera and docking targets starting at around 07:00 ET (12:00 GMT).
It will mark the beginning of the year’s first spacewalk, in which crew leave the safety of their station. This is likely to last around seven hours.
The Cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov, Pyotr dubrov, and a Television Camera will be installing handrails and rendezvous antennas. They also plan to dock targets at 07:00 ET (1:00 GMT).
Chinese astronauts Zhai Zhgang (Ye Guangfu) and Ye Guangfu (Zhai Zhgang), completed their last spacewalk on 2021.
During this new spacewalk, the duo will outfit Russia’s new modules while wearing the Orlan spacesuits — exiting from the Poisk module’s airlock.
The Prichal Module will be used as a port to allow the Russian Soyuz Crewed Spacecraft to dock and take passengers aboard the station.
Three new cosmonauts from Russia will arrive in March to use it for the first time.
Prichal connects to the Nauka Module, which was launched on July 17th and serves as a modern, low-gravity laboratory.
Russia’s new investments suggest that it plans to increase its investment in the ISS after 2030. This follows a NASA decision.
It is According to NASA, this is Shkaplerov’s third spacewalk.
Three NASA astronauts continue to spacewalk, and will load the SpaceX Cargo Dragon spaceship before its undocking on Friday.
Raja Chari and Mark Vande Hei, Flight Engineers, started loading cargo after lunch. NASA astronaut Thomas Marshburn was there at the end to assist with organizing and securing the cargo.
It will mark the beginning of the year’s first spacewalk, in which crew leave the safety of their station. This is likely to take around seven hours.
Marshburn joined ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer in a training session for the US Destiny lab module.
The team are also making preparations for a visit of the first all private mission — Axiom Mission 1 — to visit the space station on March 31.
Four-person Axiom Space crew members will be aboard the spacecraft for science, outreach and commercial activities. They’ll stay there eight days.
EXPLAINED – THE $100 BILLION INTERNATIONAL SPACES STATION SLITS 250 MILES AROUND THE EARTH
The International Space Station (ISS) is a $100 billion (£80 billion) science and engineering laboratory that orbits 250 miles (400 km) above Earth.
It is manned permanently by rotating astronaut and cosmonaut crews, since November 2000.
Although most crews came from Russia and America, astronauts were also sent by the Japanese space agency JAXA or the European space agency ESA.
Since its inception, the International Space Station (ISS) has been continuously occupied by astronauts for over 20 years. It has seen numerous upgrades and new modules.
Research conducted aboard the ISS often requires one or more of the unusual conditions present in low Earth orbit, such as low-gravity or oxygen.
ISS studies have investigated human research, space medicine, life sciences, physical sciences, astronomy and meteorology.
The US space agency, NASA, spends about $3 billion (£2.4 billion) a year on the space station program, with the remaining funding coming from international partners, including Europe, Russia and Japan.
So far 244 individuals from 19 countries have visited the station, and among them eight private citizens who spent up to $50 million for their visit.
A debate continues about what will happen to the station after 2025. Some of its original structures may be considered dead.
Russia is a key partner of the station and plans to launch an orbital platform with AxiomSpace, a private company, around that time. It will also send its modules to the station for commercial purposes.
NASA, ESA and JAXA, as well as Canada’s Space Agency (CSA), are all working in tandem to create a space station orbiting the moon. Russia and China also have similar projects, which would include a base at the surface.