Russian Cosmonauts Taking Spacewalk Today: How to Watch Live

[Buster's Uncle]

Russian Cosmonauts Taking Spacewalk Today: How to Watch Live
By Miriam Kramer | SPACE.com – 5 hrs ago..

This image from a NASA space shuttle mission shows the International Space Station in orbit. The space station is the size of a football field and home to six astronauts. Image taken: Feb. 10, 2010.


Russian cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Alexander Misurkin will spend six hours working outside the International Space Station during a spacewalk on June 24, 2013.

 
Two Russian cosmonauts will venture outside of the International Space Station for six hours today (June 24) on a spacewalk test and upgrade systems on the orbiting lab's exterior.

Veteran cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and crewmate Alexander Misurkin are scheduled to begin their orbital work at 9:35 a.m. EDT (1335 GMT). This will mark the sixth career spacewalk for Yurchikhin and Misurkin's first.

You can watch the spacewalk live on SPACE.com courtesy of NASA TV. The webcast begins at 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT).

The cosmonauts are expected to test automatic docking cables in anticipation of a new Russian module scheduled to arrive at the station later this year. Misurkin and Yurchikhin also plan to install clamps that will hold cables from the station's U.S. side that will power the new module on the Russian side of the laboratory.

They will also install handhold to aid in future spacewalks, retrieve experiments from the outside of the station and "replace a fluid flow control valve panel on the Zarya module," NASA officials said in a spacewalk description.

This is the first spacewalk since two NASA astronauts performed an unplanned, emergency spacewalk to fix an ammonia leak on the outside of the space station in May. The spacewalk by Misurkin and Yurchikhin will mark the 169th in support of station care and construction.

The two cosmonauts are joined on the space station by NASA's Karen Nyberg and Chris Cassidy, European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano and Russia's Pavel Vinogradov.

The orbiting laboratory is about the size of a five bedroom house with the wingspan of a football field. The $100 billion International Space Station was built by five space agencies representing 15 countries. Construction began in 1998 and has been staffed with rotating crews of astronauts continuously since 2000.

http://news.yahoo.com/russian-cosmonauts-taking-spacewalk-today-watch-live-114136636.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Russian astronauts take spacewalk at space station
By MARCIA DUNN | Associated Press – 29 mins ago..

In this frame grab from video provided by NASA, two Russian flight engineers perform maintenance on the International Space Station, Monday, June 24, 2013. The crew includes three Russians, two Americans and one Italian. The Italian and one American will conduct a pair of spacewalks for NASA in July. (AP Photo/NASA)

 
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Two space station astronauts took care of a little outside maintenance Monday.

Russian flight engineers Fyodor Yurchikhin and Alexander Misurkin replaced a main valve on the International Space Station, after emerging from their 250-mile-high home.

"To save the time, I'm embroidering," one of the spacewalkers said in Russian, holding a clump of cord as he worked on the fluid valve. "It's not easy to handle all these ropes." Later, he added, "OK, now we're doing bead work."

Also on the spacewalkers' to-do list: installing clamps and retrieving science experiments. Some of the work will pave the way for the arrival of a new Russian compartment at the end of this year.

The year's third spacewalk was under the direction of Russian Mission Control outside Moscow. The four other space station residents monitored the action from inside.

Yurchikhin arrived at the space station just a few weeks ago. Misurkin has been on board since March.

The crew includes three Russians, two Americans and one Italian. The Italian and one American will conduct a pair of spacewalks for NASA in July.

Begun in 1998, the space station still is one room short.

The Russian Space Agency plans to launch a research lab to replace the Pirs air lock that has been in place since 2001. An unmanned Proton rocket will hoist the lab, which also will serve as an air lock for spacewalk preparations and a docking port for visiting craft. As for Pirs — Russian for pier — it will be cut loose before the launch of its replacement and burn up upon re-entry as junk.

http://news.yahoo.com/russian-astronauts-spacewalk-space-station-144617024.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Spacewalking Cosmonauts Prime Space Station for New Laboratory
By Miriam Kramer | SPACE.com – 21 hrs ago..

Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin catches sight of fellow cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin as they install a new piece of science hardware on the outside of the International Space Station. Image released on June 24, 2013.

 
Two cosmonauts took a spacewalk outside the International Space Station Monday (June 24) to prepare the orbiting outpost for the arrival of a new Russian laboratory later this year.

Clad in bulky Orlan spacesuits, cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Alexander Misurkin spent more than six hours outside the space station to test automated docking system cables and install equipment to aid the arrival of the new Russian Multipurpose Laboratory, a science module slated to launch to the orbiting laboratory by the end of 2013. The spacewalk began at 9:32 a.m. EDT (1332 GMT).

Yurchikhin and Misurkin successfully tested the docking system cables that will be used to help the new Multipurpose Laboratory module dock itself at the station when it arrives. The spacewalkers also installed cable clamps to hold the cables that will route power and data from the U.S. segment of the space station to the new laboratory module.

Still, it wasn't all work and no play for the hard-working cosmonauts.

"Can you make the sun not shine so bright?" one of the spacewalkers joked during the orbital work. "It's shining right in my eyes."

Yurchikhin and Misurkin are part of the space station's six-person Expedition 36 crew. Their crewmates — fellow cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov, NASA's Chris Cassidy and Karen Nyberg and European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano — remained inside the International Space Station during the spacewalk.

Misurkin and Yurchikhin were lighthearted during the six hour and 34 minute excursion. They joked with Russian Mission Control about being hungry, paused occasionally for a photo and commented on the beauty of the Earth from space.

"I guess we're flying over South America," one of the spacewalkers said at one point. "Gorgeous."

Aside from the new module preparation work, the cosmonauts also replaced a fluid control valve panel on the Zarya module, installed a new science experiment on the exterior of the orbiting laboratory, and retrieved two older experiments.

They installed tethers between handholds to be used by cosmonauts and astronauts on future spacewalks, however they weren't able to mount all of them in time. The remaining tethers will be installed during a future spacewalk, NASA officials said.

Monday's spacewalk marked the sixth excursion for Yurchikhin, a veteran cosmonaut making his fourth spaceflight. It was the first for Misurkin. Before this spacewalk, Yurchikhin logged 31 hours and 52 minutes of spacewalking time.

Six more spacewalks are planned for this year, four Russian and two American. The U.S. spacewalks are scheduled to take place on July 2 and 9.

Monday's excursion marked the 169th spacewalk for maintenance and assembly performed on the $100 billion orbiting laboratory. The International Space Station was built by 15 countries represented by five space agencies, and construction began in 1998. It has been continuously staffed by rotating crews of astronauts since 2000.

http://news.yahoo.com/spacewalking-cosmonauts-prime-space-station-laboratory-211106675.html