October 4, 2024

Cosmonauts Set Up Robotic Arm’s First Motion During Spacewalk Outside ISS

This was the 5th spacewalk in Artemyevs career, and the second for Matveev. It was the 5th spacewalk at the station in 2022 and the 250th spacewalk for spaceport station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.
Roscosmos cosmonaut and Expedition 66 Commander Anton Shkaplerov (upper right) works outside the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module during a spacewalk on January 19, 2022, that lasted 7 hours and 11 minutes. Connected to Nauka at the bottom, is the Prichal docking module that was set up and activated throughout the spacewalk with fellow cosmonaut and Expedition 66 Flight Engineer Pyotr Dubrov (out of frame). Credit: NASA
Extra spacewalks are prepared to continue outfitting the European robotic arm and to trigger Naukas airlock for future spacewalks.
The Nauka multipurpose lab module with the docked Soyuz MS-18 crew ship is envisioned as the International Space Station orbited 265 miles above the Pacific Ocean into an orbital sundown on October 14, 2021. Credit: NASA
Nauka, likewise called the Multipurpose Laboratory Module-Upgrade (MLM-U) or merely Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM), introduced on July 21, 2021, and successfully docked to the ISS on July 29, 2021. It is the main lab of the Russian Orbital Segment, running in combination with the Mini-Research Modules Rassvet and Poisk. It is used to carry out experiments and store clinical instruments, and can likewise function as a backup service module for the International Space Station.

Spacewalkers Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev keep track of the stations new European robotic arm as it proceeds the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module. Credit: NASA
Russian cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev of Roscosmos concluded their spacewalk outside of the International Space Station (ISS) yesterday (April 28, 2022) at 6:40 p.m. EDT after 7 hours and 42 minutes.
Artemyev and Matveev completed their major objectives throughout the spacewalk, that included keeping track of the very first commanded motions of the robotic arm from its grapple components after eliminating thermal blankets and launch locks. The duo kept an eye on the robotic arm as its end effectors translated one at a time to brand-new base points. The crew also installed more handrails on Nauka multipurpose lab module.
The Prichal docking and the Nauka multipurpose lab module figure prominently in this image taken throughout a January 19, 2022, spacewalk with cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov (at bottom of Prichal) and Pyotr Dubrov (at top of Prichal) who outfitted both modules to integrate with the International Space Station. Credit: NASA
Shortly after the spacewalk ended, cosmonaut Sergey Korsakov completed the grapple of the second of the 2 end effectors on the new European Robotic Arm to a grapple system on the Nauka module to effectively finish up the significant jobs of the trip.

Roscosmos cosmonaut and Expedition 66 Commander Anton Shkaplerov (upper right) works outside the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module during a spacewalk on January 19, 2022, that lasted seven hours and 11 minutes. Connected to Nauka at the bottom, is the Prichal docking module that was set up and activated during the spacewalk with fellow cosmonaut and Expedition 66 Flight Engineer Pyotr Dubrov (out of frame). Nauka, also known as the Multipurpose Laboratory Module-Upgrade (MLM-U) or simply Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM), released on July 21, 2021, and effectively docked to the ISS on July 29, 2021.