Two cosmonauts from Russia will go on a “spacewalk” outside of the International Space Station today. The spacewalk is in an effort to activate a new robotic arm.
The two cosmonauts, Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev began their about seven-hour spacewalk today. The walk is being live-streamed on NASA’s website.
This marks the first of two spacewalks that these two cosmonauts are conducting in order to set up this mechanism. The new robotic arm extends from the Russian Nauka multipurpose module.
The space jaunt includes the installation and therefore connection of a control panel for a 37-foot-long robotic arm, and also includes the removal of the arm’s protective covers and installation of handrails outside of the module.
The arm is needed to assist the spacewalker and transport items that would ever need to be moved outside of the station’s Russian segment.
Later this month, the pair of cosmonauts will conduct a second walk on April 28. On this walk, they will remove thermal blankets used to protect the newly installed robotic arm.
These are the first two walks in a series of upcoming ones that will focus on preparing Nauka and the arm for use in the future.
Do geopolitical tensions exist all the way to space? When asked about how tensions with Russia have affected life on the international space station, a NASA astronaut said that it has been a “collegial, very friendly relationship together” up in space where everyone is working together. The NASA crew and the Russian crew regularly share meals and watch movies, the NASA astronaut said.
The astronaut, Dr. Tom Marshburn, said that the people in the space station rely on each other for survival in a dangerous environment, and so they carry on with training recognizing they are in space for the same purpose of exploring and maintaining the space station.
Be the first to comment