Two Russian cosmonauts will venture outside the International Space Station Thursday, Aug. 17, to deploy several nanosatellites, collect research samples and perform structural maintenance. Coverage of the spacewalk will begin at 10 a.m. EDT on NASA Television and the agency’s website.
Expedition 52 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy, of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, will don their spacesuits and exit the station’s Pirs airlock at approximately 10:45 a.m.
Ryazanskiy will begin the schedule of extravehicular activities with the manual deployment of five nanosatellites from a ladder outside the airlock. The satellites, each of which has a mass of about 11 pounds, have a variety of purposes.
One of the satellites, with casings made using 3-D printing technology, will test the effect of the low-Earth-orbit environment on the composition of 3-D printed materials. Another satellite contains recorded greetings to the people of Earth in 11 languages. A third satellite commemorates the 60th anniversary of the Sputnik 1 launch and the 160th anniversary of the birth of Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.
The spacewalkers also will collect residue samples from various locations outside the Russian segment of the station and install handrails and struts to facilitate future excursions.
Yurchikhin will be designated extravehicular crew member 1 (EV1) for this spacewalk, the ninth of his career. Ryazanskiy, embarking on his fourth spacewalk, will be extravehicular crew member 2 (EV2). Both will wear Russian Orlan spacesuits bearing blue stripes. The spacewalk will be the 202nd in support of space station assembly and maintenance and the seventh spacewalk this year.
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Kathryn Hambleton
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
kathryn.hambleton@nasa.gov
Dan Huot
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
daniel.g.huot@nasa.gov