Watch NASA TV Now for Spacewalk Coverage

Cosmonaut Sergey Volkov
Cosmonaut Sergey Volkov works outside the International Space Station in August 2011 during Expedition 28.

Expedition 46 Flight Engineers Yuri Malenchenko and Sergey Volkov of Roscosmos will begin today’s spacewalk outside of the International Space Station at 8:10 a.m. EST.  Watch live NASA TV coverage here:

https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

The two cosmonauts will exit the station’s Pirs airlock for 5.5 hours to deploy and retrieve several experiment packages on the Zvezda and Poisk modules and install device gap spanners, which will be placed on the hull of the station to facilitate the movement of crew members on future spacewalks.

This will be the 193rd spacewalk in support of space station assembly and maintenance, the sixth spacewalk for Malenchenko and the fourth spacewalk for Volkov. Malenchenko will be designated extravehicular crew member 1 (EV1) and Volkov will be extravehicular crew member 2 (EV2). Both will wear Russian Orlan spacesuits bearing blue stripes.

Follow @space_station on Twitter and #spacewalk for updates online. For more information about the International Space Station, including current residents, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/station

Cosmonauts Finalize Preps Before Wednesday Spacewalk

Cosmonaut Sergey Volkov
Cosmonaut Sergey Volkov is pictured during a spacewalk in August 2011 when he was a Flight Engineer for Expedition 28.

Two cosmonauts are getting ready for a spacewalk to install hardware and science experiments outside the International Space Station’s Russian segment. Meanwhile, the other four crew members are working on research hardware, water testing and trash stowage.

Veteran flight engineers and spacewalkers Yuri Malenchenko and Sergey Volkov are finalizing their reviews and preparations for the second Expedition 46 spacewalk in less than a month. NASA Television will provide live coverage of the Russian spacewalk set to begin tomorrow at 8:10 a.m. EST. They are scheduled to work outside in their Russian Orlan spacesuits for about 5 hours and 30 minutes on scheduled maintenance tasks.

Commander Scott Kelly set up a portable 3D printer today inside the Destiny laboratory module. The test fabrications on the device may precede the installation of a full-sized 3D printer in the future. Kelly also replaced fuel gear inside the Combustion Integrated Rack.

European astronaut Tim Peake collected and tested samples from water dispensers in the U.S. and Russian segments of the orbital lab. The samples will also be returned to Earth inside a Soyuz spacecraft for further analysis. NASA astronaut Tim Kopra continued stowing trash inside the Orbital ATK cargo craft while also checking the status of pistol grip tools used during spacewalks.

Spacesuit Checks and Fire Science on Space Station Today

British Astronaut Tim Peake
British Astronaut Tim Peake works to install gear inside Europe’s Columbus laboratory module.

A pair of cosmonauts is getting ready for the 193rd International Space Station spacewalk beginning Wednesday at 8:10 a.m. EST. The other four Expedition 46 crew members worked on science, cargo transfers and maintenance today.

Spacewalkers Yuri Malenchenko and Sergey Volkov got into their Russian Orlan spacesuits today testing their systems and practicing their movements. NASA TV will cover the spacewalk activities Wednesday starting at 7:30 a.m. The duo will install hardware and science experiments and photograph the external condition of the space station.

NASA astronaut Tim Kopra was back at work studying how materials burn in microgravity potentially improving fire safety on Earth and in space. British astronaut Tim Peake retracted a small satellite deployer back in the Kibo lab module and performed some maintenance work on the BioLab incubator.

Commander Scott Kelly packed trash and discarded gear inside the Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo craft scheduled to depart Feb. 19. Cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko performed a series of interactive tasks on a tablet for the Fine Motor Skills investigation. Kelly and Peake also participated in the study that observes how astronauts work on touch-based, sensitive and detailed tasks on long duration space missions.