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On Wednesday the two Russian astronauts from the International Space Station began spacewalking work to prepare for the arrival of a long-delayed laboratory next year, but had to eliminate another task due to a stubborn bolt.
Space walkers Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov – nicknamed Sergey 1 and Sergey 2 by air traffic controllers – left four Americans and one Japanese inside. The space station’s population grew to seven late Monday with the arrival of a SpaceX capsule, which made the company’s second astronaut flight.
Ryzhikov, the station commander, and Kud-Sverchkov spent nearly two hours doing further leak checks before exiting the Russian air lock at Poisk. The 11-year-old compartment had never been used by space walkers before.
“Congratulations. You’re out!” Russian Mission Control told the first space explorers after the long tests.
The astronauts quickly encountered a difficult bolt that prevented them from replacing a fluid flow regulator in Russia’s oldest compartment: Zarya, Russian for Dawn. A NASA commentator said the old regulator was still working on Zarya – the first piece of the space station launched in 1998 – and that the swap would be postponed to a later spacewalk.
Ryzhikov and Kud-Sverchkov had better luck relocating a cable, the first step in dismantling the old Russian Pirs spacewalk compartment to make room for the new laboratory. By that time, the spacewalk was over four hours and the flight controllers near Moscow urged the two to rest: “It was intense.”
The Pirs module will be removed and eliminated next year to make room for the Nauka – Russian research laboratory for “science”. Several Russian-led spacewalks will be needed to tackle all of this. The plan is to attack a cargo ship in Pirs to guide it towards a fiery return.
The new 22-tonne laboratory – 13 meters long – is so large that it will be launched from Kazakhstan by a powerful Proton rocket. Once it reaches the orbiting outpost, it will act as an air lock chamber and docking port.
The launch of the science lab – almost a decade late due to a long series of repairs – is slated for early next year.
Ryzhikov and Kud-Sverchkov arrived last month with an American in a Soyuz capsule. Like the newly arrived SpaceX crew, astronauts launched from Russia will remain aboard until spring.
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