Monday, August 20, 2012

Russian Cosmonauts Finish 6 Hour EVA

The 6.5 hour extra vehicular activity (EVA) involved cosmonauts Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko.

The main objective of the EVA was to move the Strela-2 cargo boom to the Zarya module from the Pirs docking compartment.

Moving the boom is part of a plan to make room for the new Russian multipurpose laboratory module, called Nauka, to dock to the Zvezda nadir port.

Moving the boom will also aid in preparing for undocking and disposal of the Russian Pirs docking module.

Other tasks performed during the EVA were the installation of shields designed to protect the space station from micrometeoroids.

The shields were installed on the outside of the Zvezda service module. Padalka and Malenchenko have previously performed eight and four spacewalks respectively, and this EVA is the 163rd to take place in order to maintain the International Space Station.

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