The maneuver will be performed by two cosmonauts

Aug 20, 2012 13:01 GMT  ·  By

Two members of the six-astronaut crew making up Expedition 32 aboard the International Space Station (ISS) will go outside the orbital facility today, August 20, in order to perform a series of upgrades. The extravehicular activity (EVA) will be broadcast on NASA TV.

Gennady Padalka and Yuri Malenchenko, both cosmonauts from the Russian Federal Space Agency (RosCosmos), will exit the station through the Pirs module. The 6.5-hour spacewalk is expected to begin at around 10:40 am EDT (1440 GMT).

The cosmonauts are preparing the station for the arrival of a new, Russian-built ISS module, which will be delivered to the station in 2013. Their main job is to use cranes to clear the area around the Pirs module, in anticipation of the new module's arrival.

This is the first time members of Expedition 32 carry out a spacewalk. After RosCosmos completes this EVA, a new one will be carried out by two NASA astronauts on August 30, Space reports.