Cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin work to remove a radiator from the space station’s Rassvet module during a spacewalk on April 19, 2023.
Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin began a spacewalk at 4:00 p.m. EDT to relocate an experiment airlock from the Rassvet module to the Nauka science module with assistance from European robotic arm operator cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. Coverage of the spacewalk continues on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.
Prokopyev is wearing an Orlan spacesuit with red stripes, while Petelin is wearing the suit with blue stripes. This is the fifth spacewalk in Prokopyev’s career, and the third for Petelin. It is the fifth spacewalk at the station in 2023 and the 262nd spacewalk for space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.
The SpaceX Dragon Endeavour carrying four Axiom Mission 1 astronauts approaches the space station above the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Morocco on April 9, 2022.
NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX are working together to identify the best availability opportunity to launch the Axiom Mission 2 to the space station; we are no longer targeting opportunities in early May. More information on the updated target launch date will be shared soon.
Expedition 69 Commander Sergey Prokopyev (left) is conducting his fifth career spacewalk. Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin (right) is conducting his third spacewalk.
Prokopyev and Petelin will exit out of the Poisk module at about 4:05 p.m. EDT. Prokopyev is wearing the Orlan spacesuit with red stripes, while Petelin is wearing the suit with blue stripes. This is the fifth spacewalk in Prokopyev’s career, and the third for Petelin. It is the fifth spacewalk at the station in 2023 and the 262nd spacewalk for space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.
The space station’s Nauka science module, Prichal docking module, and Soyuz MS-23 crew ship are pictured as the orbital lab soared 259 miles above north Africa.
Two cosmonauts are getting ready to exit the International Space Station on Wednesday to conduct the year’s fifth spacewalk. The rest of the Expedition 69 crew spent Tuesday preparing to relocate the SpaceX Crew Dragon spaceship, setting up robotic free-flyers, and working on life support maintenance.
Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin of Roscosmos are finalizing their procedure reviews and completing their Orlan spacesuit configurations today ahead of a spacewalk planned to start at 4:05 p.m. EDT on Wednesday. The duo will spend about six-and-a-half hours removing an experiment airlock from the Rassvet module then installing it on the Nauka science module. Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev will be inside the station assisting the spacewalkers and maneuvering the European robotic arm with the airlock in its grip.
Coming up on Saturday, four crew members will enter the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour and move the spaceship to a new station port. NASA Flight Engineers Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg will command and pilot, respectively, Endeavour while flanked by Flight Engineers Sultan Alneyadi of UAE (United Arab Emirates) and Fedyaev of Roscosmos. The quartet will undock from the Harmony module’s space-facing port at 7:10 a.m. then redock to Harmony’s forward port at 7:53 a.m.
The quartet joined each other on Tuesday and checked the pressure suits they will wear during their short ride inside Dragon. The foursome also reviewed their relocation procedures, checked vehicle hatches, and configured the spacecraft cabin.
NASA TV is covering both the spacewalk and the Dragon relocation activities live on the agency’s app and website. Spacewalk coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday and the Dragon relocation broadcast begins at 6 a.m. on Saturday.
Robotics and bioprinting were the top research priorities on Tuesday in the midst of the spacewalk and Dragon preparations. Hoburg turned on an Astrobee robotic free-flyer in the Kibo laboratory module during the morning and tested its operations in conjunction with mission controllers. The robotics work is being done to demonstrate ways to control the free-flyers using student-written code. NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio worked on the BioFabrication Facility (BFF) replacing and installing components. The BFF is designed to print organ-like tissues in microgravity and learn how to manufacture whole, fully-functioning human organs in space.
Bowen and Sultan partnered together during the morning inside the Destiny laboratory module working on life support gear. The duo took turns collecting water samples and replacing components from inside Destiny’s oxygen generation system.
Spacewalkers (from left) Stephen Bowen and Sultan Alneyadi work on the space station’s starboard truss structure during a seven-hour and one-minute spacewalk on April 28, 2023.
The Expedition 69 crew is getting ready for its second spacewalk in less than a week at the International Space Station. In the meantime, several astronauts are relaxing today following last week’s power upgrades spacewalk.
Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin, both from Roscosmos, spent Monday configuring the Orlan spacesuits they will wear during their spacewalk planned to start at 4:05 p.m. EDT on Wednesday and last about six hours. The pair checked the Orlans’ life support systems, tested communications gear, then installed video cameras and lights on their suits. They will finalize their tool configurations and procedure reviews on Tuesday.
Spacewalkers Prokopyev and Petelin, who are going on their third excursion together, will exit the Poisk airlock on Wednesday, translate toward the Rassvet module, and uninstall an experiment airlock. Next, Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev will be inside the station commanding the European robotic arm (ERA) to grapple the airlock, move it, then attach it to the Nauka science module. The two spacewalkers will then connect power cables to the airlock completing its installation on Nauka. NASA TV, on the agency’s app and website, will begin its live spacewalk coverage at 3:30 p.m.
Fedyaev spent Monday focusing mainly on life support maintenance and orbital plumbing duties. He also had time to participate in an ongoing study exploring ways international crews and mission controllers from the around world can communicate more effectively. Fedyaev will spend Tuesday activating the ERA in preparation for Wednesday’s spacewalk.
The rest of the station’s crew had Monday off following last week’s spacewalk and post-spacewalk cleanup activities. Flight Engineers Stephen Bowen of NASA and Sultan Alneyadi of UAE (United Arab Emirates) relaxed at the beginning of the workweek following Friday’s seven-hour and 1-minute spacewalk that saw them route cables and install insulation on the orbital outpost’s starboard-side truss structure. NASA astronauts Woody Hoburg and Frank Rubio, who assisted the spacewalkers from inside the station and helped them clean up after the spacewalk last week, also had the day off.
The Earth begins illuminating during an orbital sunrise as spacewalkers (lower right) Sultan Alneyadi and Stephen Bowen work outside the space station. Credit: NASA TV
NASA astronaut Steve Bowen and UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi concluded their spacewalk at 4:12 p.m. EDT after 7 hours and 1 minute.
Bowen and Alneyadi laid cables and installed insulation on mounting brackets on the starboard truss of the station for the installation of the next pair of International Space Station Roll Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs). The astronauts were unable to free up an electronics box located on the truss associated with a degraded S-band communications antenna. The antenna removal was deferred to a future spacewalk ahead of its planned return to Earth.
The installation is part of a series of spacewalks to augment the International Space Station’s power channels with new International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs). Four iROSAs have been installed so far, and two more will be mounted to the platforms installed during this spacewalk in the future.
It was the 261st spacewalk in support of space station assembly, upgrades, and maintenance, the eighth spacewalk for Bowen, and the first for any UAE astronaut.
Bowen and Alneyadi are in the midst of a planned six-month science mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program.
Astronauts (from left) Stephen Bowen and Sultan Alneyadi try on and test out the their spacesuits ahead of a spacewalk planned for Friday, April 28.
NASA astronaut Steve Bowen and UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi began a spacewalk at 9:11 a.m. EDT to prepare for future installation of upgraded solar arrays on the starboard side of the station’s truss. The astronauts will then retrieve S-band antenna equipment and bring it inside the space station for refurbishment.
The spacewalk is part of a series to augment the station’s power channels with new International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs). Four of the new arrays have been installed so far, and two additional arrays will be mounted to the installed platforms during future spacewalks following their arrival this year on SpaceX’s 28th commercial resupply services mission for NASA.
Bowen serves as extravehicular crew member 1 (EV 1) and is wearing a suit with red stripes. Alneyadi serves as extravehicular crew member 2 (EV 2) and is wearing an unmarked suit. U.S. spacewalk 86 is the eighth spacewalk for Bowen and the first for any UAE astronaut.
Coverage of the spacewalk continues on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.
Expedition 69 Flight Engineers (from left) Stephen Bowen and Sultan Alneyadi prepare their spacesuits for an upcoming spacewalk to continue station power upgrades.
NASA Television coverage of today’s spacewalk with NASA astronaut Steve Bowen and UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi now is underway and also is available on the NASA app, the space station blog and the agency’s website.
The two Expedition 69 crew members are preparing to exit the International Space Station‘s Quest airlock for a spacewalk expected to begin at about 9:15 a.m. EDT and last approximately six-and-a-half-hours.
Bowen and Alneyadi will prepare for future installation of upgraded solar arrays on the starboard side of the station’s truss. The astronauts will then retrieve S-band antenna equipment and bring it inside the space station for refurbishment.
The spacewalk is part of a series to augment the station’s power channels with new International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs). Four of the new arrays have been installed so far, and two additional arrays will be mounted to the installed platforms during future spacewalks following their arrival this year on SpaceX’s 28th commercial resupply services mission for NASA.
Bowen will serve as extravehicular crew member 1 (EV 1) and will wear a suit with red stripes. Alneyadi will serve as extravehicular crew member 2 (EV 2) and will wear an unmarked suit. U.S. spacewalk 86 will be the eighth spacewalk for Bowen and the first for any UAE astronaut.
The International Space Station was pictured Oct. 4, 2018, from the departing Expedition 56 crew during a flyaround aboard the Soyuz MS-08 spacecraft. Credit: Roscosmos/NASA
The International Space Station partners have committed to extending the operations of this unique platform in low Earth orbit where, for more than 22 years, humans have lived and worked for the benefit of humanity, conducting cutting-edge science and research in microgravity. The United States, Japan, Canada, and the participating countries of ESA (European Space Agency) have confirmed they will support continued space station operations through 2030 and Russia has confirmed it will support continued station operations through 2028. NASA will continue to work with its partner agencies to ensure an uninterrupted presence in low Earth orbit, as well as a safe and orderly transition from the space station to commercial platforms in the future.
“The International Space Station is an incredible partnership with a common goal to advance science and exploration,” said Robyn Gatens, director of the International Space Station Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Extending our time aboard this amazing platform allows us to reap the benefits of more than two decades of experiments and technology demonstrations, as well as continue to materialize even greater discovery to come.”
Since its launch in 1998, the International Space Station has been visited by 266 individuals from 20 countries. The space station is a unique scientific platform where crew members conduct experiments across multiple disciplines of research, including Earth and space science, biology, human physiology, physical sciences and technology demonstrations that could not be done on Earth. The crew living aboard the station are the hands of thousands of researchers on the ground conducting more than 3,300 experiments in microgravity. Now, in its third decade of operations, the station is in the decade of results when the platform can maximize its scientific return. Results are compounding, new benefits are materializing, and innovative research and technology demonstrations are building on previous work.
The space station is one of the most complex international collaborations ever attempted. It was designed to be interdependent, relies on contributions from across the partnership to function, and no partner currently has the capability to operate the space station without the other.
With a continued foothold in low Earth orbit, NASA’s Artemis missions are underway, setting up a long-term presence at the Moon for science and exploration.
Astronaut Stephen Bowen poses for a picture during a spacewalk on March 2, 2011, when he was conducting hardware maintenance on the outside of the space station.
The Expedition 69 crew is ready for a spacewalk set to begin on Friday to upgrade the International Space Station’s power generation system. In the meantime, fitness evaluations and robotic tests rounded out the schedule aboard the orbital outpost on Thursday.
Flight Engineers Stephen Bowen of NASA and Sultan Alneyadi of UAE (United Arab Emirates) are finalizing their tool collections and Quest airlock configurations the day before their six-and-a-half hour spacewalk begins. They staged their Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMUs), or spacesuits, inside Quest and finished studying the procedures they will use to route power cables and retrieve an antenna on the station’s starboard truss structure. The external hardware work will ready the space station for its next set of roll-out solar arrays due to be installed after their delivery on the next SpaceX Dragon cargo mission.
Bowen and Alneyadi will set their EMUs to battery power at around 9:15 am. EDT on Friday signifying the beginning of their spacewalk. This will be Bowen’s eighth career spacewalk, Alneyadi’s first, and the fourth of 2023. NASA TV, on the agency’s app and website, will begin its live spacewalk coverage 7:45 a.m.
NASA Flight Engineers Frank Rubio and Woody Hoburg participated in today’s final spacewalk preparations joining the spacewalkers for a procedures review, tool checks, and a conference with engineers on the ground. Rubio and Hoburg, on Friday, will assist the spacewalkers in and out of their spacesuits, maneuver the Canadarm2 robotic arm, and monitor the activities.
Two cosmonauts took turns pedaling on an exercise cycle for a fitness evaluation on Thursday morning. Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin attached sensors to themselves measuring their heart activity and blood pressure then exercised for about an hour. The fitness study ensures the pair is in good shape ahead of a spacewalk planned to start at 4:05 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, May 3. Prokopyev and Petelin will exit the station in their Orlan spacesuits and spend about six hours moving an experiment airlock from the Rassvet module to the Nauka science module.
Roscosmos Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev spent his day inside the Nauka module testing operations with the European robotic arm (ERA). He practiced grappling the experiment airlock and maneuvering techniques with the ERA, the same maneuvers he will use to assist the Roscosmos spacewalkers during next week’s logistics spacewalk.
