ISS, August 17. /TASS/: Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, who is also a special correspondent for TASS, and Denis Matveyev have opened the exit hatch of the Poisk module of the International Space Station (ISS) and began extravehicular activity (EVA) under the Russian program. The process is being streamed on the corporation’s website.
The cosmonauts’ task is to mount the European Robotic Arm’s extra elbow cameras, relocate and connect the external EMMI control panel, and remove the launch restraint rings to make the ERA manipulator lighter.
This is the seventh spacewalk for Artemyev and third for Matveyev. Artemyev uses the Orlan-MKS N. 5 suit with red stripes and Matveev, the Orlan-MKS N. 4 suit with blue stripes.
The previous spacewalk took place on July 21-22. It was performed by Artemyev and European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti. They stayed more than seven hours outside the ISS to launch ten nanosatellites under the Radioskaf scientific and educational experiment’s program. Also, they jointly dismantled and transferred platforms with adapters from the Poisk module to the Nauka module, placing the ERA manipulator adapter on Poisk, switched the ERA manipulator’s EMMI control panel to the storage mode, and covered the manipulator’s attachment system with screen-vacuum thermal insulation.
On November 17, 2021, TASS and Roscosmos signed a memorandum of cooperation, according to which a TASS office was opened on the ISS. Its current chief is cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev. The agency’s first special correspondent was cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin. His flight lasted 12 days.
