Two Russian cosmonauts have completed a spacewalk on Friday to install cameras on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS).
Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy and Commander Oleg Kotov finished the 8-hour, 7-minute spacewalk. The installation of the camera will help experts have access to the imagery of Earth and other cosmetic bodies which the space station can capture. The installation of the camera to provide access for this data was initiated by a Canadian commercial company.
This spacewalk broke the record for the longest Russian spacewalk. Before Kotog and Ryanzkiy finished this spacewalk, the longest spacewalk recorded was completed in 7 hours, 29 minutes on August 16 by Flight Engineers Alexander Misurkin and Fyodor Yurchikin
The camera was attached by a combination of biaxial positioning platform and a spacewalk workstation that was attached to the Zvezda module. To help Kotov and Ryazanskiy perform their tasks better, a foot restraint was also connected to the workstation.
Although successful in the ulterior goal to attach the camera, the cosmonauts failed to do some of their other tasks including the removal of a frame used to contain three Micro Particles Capturer and Space Environment Exposure Device (MPAC and SEED). They were unable to finish it due to unexpected “telemetry and electrical connectivity” observed from the high and medium resolution of the cameras. To find the cause of the problems, Rotov and Ryazansky were instructed to remove the cameras and bring them back to the airlock.
Another task that the cosmonauts finished is the detachment of the Vsplesk experiment package. This experiment apparatus was installed during a spacewalk in July 2008 and was used to gather data on the seismic effects of high-energy particle streams in an environment described as “ near-Earth”.
The Russian spacewalk has no connection whatsoever with the U.S spacewalk missions performed to replace a pump module. Astronauts Mastracchio and Hopkins successfully replaced the malfunctioning pump on Tuesday, December 24.
