STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION
Two Russian cosmonauts suited up for a spacewalk exterior the Worldwide House Station Wednesday to start making ready the Pirs airlock and docking compartment for elimination subsequent yr to make approach for attachment of a brand new laboratory module.
The tour, beginning round 9:30 a.m. EST, additionally will validate utilizing the Poisk docking compartment, on the other facet of the station from Pirs, as an airlock for future Russian spacewalks after its older counterpart has been eliminated.
The spacewalk comes two days after arrival of 4 astronauts aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon industrial ferry ship and can be carried out by Expedition 64 commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, each making their first journeys exterior the area station.
For identification, Ryzhikov, name signal EV-1, can be sporting a spacesuit with crimson stripes and utilizing helmet digital camera 20 whereas Kud-Sverchkov, EV-2, will use a swimsuit with blue stripes and helmetcam 18.
Practically equivalent to Pirs, Poisk was launched nearly precisely 11 years in the past, on Nov. 10, 2009, and connected to the Zvezda module’s higher port two days later. It has been used as a docking port for unpiloted Progress cargo carriers and Soyuz crew ferry ships many occasions however by no means as an airlock.
Earlier than venturing exterior, the cosmonauts deliberate to spend about an hour ensuring Poisk’s never-before-used facet hatch may be safely opened and tightly shut with an hermetic seal and that the hatch main into the principle physique of the station is leak free when the compartment is at or close to vacuum.
Sporting their Orlan spacesuits, Ryzhikov and Kud-Sverchkov first deliberate to partially depressurize Poisk for an preliminary spherical of leak checks. NASA crewmate Kate Rubins will perform related exams from contained in the Russian phase of the station.
The cosmonauts then will take Poisk to hoover, open the facet spacewalk hatch for the primary time within the module’s historical past and examine its seals for any indicators of international object particles or harm. Spare sealing materials is obtainable if wanted.
They then plan to shut the hatch and run further leak checks earlier than re-opening it and floating exterior to start the 232nd spacewalk dedicated to station meeting and upkeep, the eighth station EVA thus far this yr.
The primary merchandise on the agenda is to put in a brand new pump to assist flow into fluids within the Russian Zarya module, the station’s first module, launched 20 years in the past Nov. 20.
The cosmonauts then will retrieve a supplies science area publicity pallet from the Pirs module and disconnect a telemetry cable. The cable can be reconnected to Poisk, starting the method of ending using Pirs as an airlock.
After cleansing a window on the Zvezda module, the spacewalkers will reposition a rocket plume impingement detector and retrieve an experiment tray that helps engineers assess micrometeoroid impacts. Their closing job is to photograph the outside of the Russian phase.
