ISS - Expedition 56 Mission patch.
August 6, 2018
Two Expedition 56 cosmonauts are getting ready for a spacewalk set for next week as the rest of the International Space Station crew took the day off. A Russian cargo craft is also poised to take out the trash and depart the orbital lab at the end of the month.
Cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Sergey Prokopyev will put on their Orlan spacesuits and work outside the station’s Russian segment for about seven hours on Aug. 15. The duo will toss tiny satellites into Earth orbit, install antennas and cables on the Zvezda service module and retrieve experiments that analyzed external station surfaces and observed plasma waves.
Image above: Empty Russian Orlan spacesuits are pictured in the Pirs Docking Compartment. Image Credit: NASA.
They spent Monday installing batteries that will power their spacesuits next week for the duration of their spacewalk. Artemyev and Prokopyev also ensured their suits were sized properly and conducted leak checks. Finally, they reviewed the procedures they will use next week when they exit and enter the airlock inside the Pirs docking compartment.
The rest of the crew is relaxing today after an intense week of completing crucial space science and loading the time-sensitive research samples inside the Dragon cargo craft for its return to Earth. Dragon splashed down in the Pacific Ocean Friday and was quickly retrieved so scientists and engineers could begin analyzing the science and refurbishing the station hardware.
Image above: California Fires as Seen From the Space Station (ISS). The Earth, in all its majesty and its tragedy, is the subject of images taken aboard the International Space Station. This image of the Carr and Ferguson fires was captured by European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst (@Astro_Alex), on August 3, 2018, from the station. Image Credits: NASA/Astro_Alex.
The next spacecraft due to leave the station is Russia’s Progress 69 (69P) resupply ship on Aug. 22 packed with trash and discarded gear. It launched Feb. 13 and arrived two days later loaded with over three tons of food, fuel and supplies. The 69P will deorbit on Aug. 29 after a week of engineering tests for a fiery but safe disposal over the Pacific Ocean.
Related links:
Expedition 56: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition56/index.html
Progress 69 (69P): https://cms.nasa.gov/feature/progress-launches-arrivals-and-departures/
Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html
International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html
Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia.
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