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Two Russian cosmonauts prepared for a spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Wednesday to begin preparing the Pirs airlock and docking compartment for removal next year to make way for connecting a new lab module.
The excursion, which will begin around 9:30 am EST, will also validate the use of the Poisk docking compartment, on the opposite side of the station from Pirs, as an airlock for future Russian spacewalks after its older counterpart is been removed.
The spacewalk comes two days later arrival of four astronauts aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon commercial ferryboat and will be carried out by Expedition 64 commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, both of which are first voyages out of the space station.
NASA
For identification, Ryzhikov, call sign EV-1, will wear a red-striped spacesuit and use the 20 helmet camera while Kud-Sverchkov, EV-2, will use a blue striped suit and 18 helmet camera.
Almost identical to Pirs, Poisk was launched almost exactly 11 years ago, on November 10, 2009, and connected to the top port of the Zvezda module two days later. It has been used many times as a docking port for unmanned Progress cargo ships and Soyuz crew ferries, but never as an airlock.
Before venturing out, the cosmonauts planned to spend about an hour making sure that Poisk’s side hatch, never used before, could be safely opened and hermetically sealed with an airtight seal, and that the hatch leading to the main body of the station was leak-free when the compartment is near or empty.
Wearing their Orlan space suits, Ryzhikov and Kud-Sverchkov initially planned to partially depressurize Poisk for a first round of leak checks. NASA teammate Kate Rubins will carry out similar tests from within the station’s Russian segment.
The cosmonauts will then take Poisk to vacuum, open the side spacewalk hatch for the first time in the module’s history, and inspect its seals for any signs of debris or damage from foreign objects. If necessary, replacement sealing material is available.
They then plan to close the hatch and perform further leak checks before reopening it and floating outside to begin the 232nd spacewalk dedicated to station assembly and maintenance, the eighth station EVA so far this year.
The first item on the agenda is to install a new pump to help circulate fluids in the Russian Zarya module, the station’s first module, launched 20 years ago on November 20.
The cosmonauts will then retrieve a materials science space display pallet from the Pirs module and disconnect a telemetry cable. The cable will be reconnected to Poisk, starting the process of ending the use of Pirs as an airlock.
After cleaning a window on the Zvezda module, the spacewalkers will reposition a rocket plume impingement detector and retrieve an experimental tray that helps engineers evaluate the impacts of micrometeoroids. Their final task is to photograph the outside of the Russian segment.
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