Crew Performs Dry Run for Monday Spacewalk

Cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Mikhail Kornienko will exit the International Space Station Monday night for a six-hour spacewalk. The pair will exit the Pirs docking compartment and work outside the Zarya and Zvezda modules. This will be the first Expedition 24 spacewalk.

› View Spacewalk Briefing Graphics from July 21

They will outfit the Rassvet module’s Kurs automated rendezvous system, install cables and remove and replace a video camera. Kurs is a Russian radio telemetry system that allows automated dockings of unmanned spacecraft such as the Progress resupply vehicle. The new video camera will document the rendezvous and docking of future Automated Transfer Vehicles to the aft end of the Zvezda service module.

On Friday, Yurchikhin and Kornienko put on their Orlan spacesuits and performed a dry run of the spacewalk activities. From inside the Pirs docking compartment they checked out the Orlan systems, practiced translation movements and tested their mobility.

NASA astronauts Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Doug Wheelock and Shannon Walker continued their science and maintenance activities throughout the station. The three flight engineers also participated in a review and conducted a conference to discuss future shuttle and station spacewalks.

Walker also completed work on the station’s Oxygen Generation System. The American life support system is now running again providing breathable oxygen for the station’s environment.

Friday morning, the sun’s glint over the Gulf of Mexico allowed the crew to photograph the oil spill’s progress. Pictures were taken using 400mm and 800mm lenses as the station orbited 220 miles above the gulf and Mississippi delta region.

The next spacewalk will take place Aug. 5 with Flight Engineers Caldwell Dyson and Wheelock. The astronauts will exit the Quest airlock and install a Portable Data Grapple Fixture on the Zarya module extending the reach of Canadarm2, the station’s robotic arm, and increasing a spacewalker’s capabilites. They also will jettison old multi-layer insulation removed for the PDGF install and mate power connectors to Zarya.

Researchers can learn more about opportunities to develop and fly science experiments on the International Space Station (ISS) at the NASA ISS Research Academy Aug. 3-5 in League City, Texas.