Roskosmos postponed spacewalk until May

The exit of Russian cosmonauts Sergei Prokopiev and Dmitry Petelin has been postponed until early May, they continue to prepare for work outside the International Space Station (ISS). About it informs press service of Roskosmos.

“The exit, previously scheduled for April 26, 2023, has been postponed, tentatively, to early May due to the need for a more detailed study of its tasks,” the report says.

According to the state corporation, during the spacewalk, the cosmonauts will have to transfer the airlock chamber with the ERA manipulator from the Rassvet module and dock it to the Nauka module. An airlock is needed to transport payloads overboard the ISS using a manipulator and return them inside the station. It is noted that the work is carried out within the framework of the program of scientific and applied research.

Earlier today, the state corporation announced the details of the training of cosmonauts for spacewalks. They clarified that over the weekend they studied the onboard documentation and the cyclogram of the upcoming work, prepared the tools, and also conducted a training session on controlling the ERA manipulator.

Previous spacewalk by Prokopiev and Petelin committed April 19, 2023 Work outside the ISS was the first in 2023. They spent almost 8 hours in outer space.

During this time, the cosmonauts prepared the radiator from the Rassvet module for transfer and installed it on the Nauka module. It is noted that cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev controlled the ERA manipulator from the station. Roskosmos added that it is planned to open the radiator panels through one spacewalk.

Now the crew of the 69th long-term expedition is working on the ISS, consisting of Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopiev (ISS-69 commander), Dmitry Petelin and Andrey Fedyaev, as well as NASA astronauts Francisco Rubio, Stephen Bowen, Warren Hoburg and UAE astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi .