Astronauts Complete Spacewalk Inside the ISS

In a very rare type of spacewalk, which took place entirely inside the International Space Station, RosCosmos Cosmonaut Gennedy Padalka and NASA Astronaut Michael Barratt successfully replaced an old door on the station with a conic docking module. In their second spacewalk this week, the two managed to complete their task in only 12 minutes, after starting work at 2:55 am EDT (0655 GMT). The task was somewhat made difficult by the fact that the Zvezda service module was only 1.5 meters (five feet) wide at its largest point, and the astronauts were wearing the new and bulky Orlan MK spacesuits.

“Padalka and Barratt replaced a Zvezda hatch with a docking cone. The excursion took place internally with the spacewalkers attached to umbilicals in Zvezda for life support. It lasted about 12 minutes. Docking antennas, a docking target and electrical connectors were installed on the exterior of the Zvezda service module during their first spacewalk Friday. The station is now ready for the docking of the Mini-Research Module 2, or MRM2, later this year. The MRM2 will dock automatically to the zenith port of Zvezda and will serve as an additional docking port for Russian vehicles,” a press release on NASA's official website said.

This is only the fifth such spacewalk – and we use the term loosely – in history, with three of them being performed in the Russian-built Mir space station, and the other in the ISS, back in 2001. The one that was performed in the station eight years ago prepared the scene for the arrival of the Earth-facing Pirs docking module, which doubles as an airlock as well. The 16-foot (4.85-meter) module was first used as a stowage space for Russian spacesuits and other tools, but has since changed uses.

At this point, the six-astronaut crew aboard the ISS, featuring astronauts from Russia (2), the United States, Belgium, Canada and Japan, is all set to receive the visit of space shuttle Endeavor, which will launch on Saturday, June 13th, on the STS-127 mission. It will deliver two new components for the Japanese Kibo Module, and will also replace JAXA Astronaut Koichi Wakata with NASA Flight Engineer Timothy Kopra.