Roscosmos cosmonauts, Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov, opened the exit hatch of the Poisk module of the International Space Station (ISS) and began the first spacewalk in 2022 as part of the work on the integration of the Prichal node module.
The commander and flight engineer of the 66th long-term expedition to the ISS began the 59th spacewalk under the Russian programme. The opening of the exit hatch of the small research module “Poisk” took place on January 19, 2022, at 3.18 pm Moscow time. Extravehicular activity is expected to last approximately 6 hours and 40 minutes. For Shkaplerov, who will work in a spacesuit with red lamps, this is the third spacewalk in his career, and for Dubrov (a spacesuit with blue lamps) it’s already the fourth.
The main tasks of the spacewalk are the integration of the Prichal node module into the Russian segment of the ISS and its preparation for the docking of manned and cargo ships. In particular, among the tasks listed are the installation of handrails between the modules “Nauka” and “Prichal”, the dismantling of the covers of the screen-vacuum insulation from the handrails, the connection of the cables of the intermodule communication and TV cable between the new modules, as well as the installation of docking targets and docking control.
It is specified that after the integration into the ISS is completed, up to five objects will be able to dock to Prichal.
Ru-Main, 19.01.2022
Source: Roscosmos
