14 DAY TRIAL // Minutes ago, at 10:20 a.m. EDT, Russian astronauts Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Kornienko left the comfort of the International Space Station.
The cosmonauts are now out and about in space, working on fitting the Station with new gadgets and gizmos, and cleaning whatever components have gotten dirty since the last spacewalk.
NASA TV is broadcasting the event, so just scroll down and hit “play” if you feel like having a look at Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Kornienko as they complete their assignment.
During this spacewalk, scheduled to last for about 6 hours, the two astronauts, dressed in Russian Orlan spacesuits complete with NASA helmet cameras to document their work, will tackle several tasks.
For starters, they must install devices known as gap spanners on the hull of the International Space Station. These devices are intended to facilitate future spacewalks.
They have also been entrusted with cleaning dirt off the Stations Zvezda Service Module, fastening communications antennas and replacing an antenna that has passed its prime.
Further, the astronauts are expected to snap photos of the outside of the International Space Station and retrieve an experiment measuring space environment that was deployed back in 2013.
This spacewalk that is now underway is the 188th since the International Space Station was launched and began orbiting Earth in November 1998.
Update: The spacewalk, which lasted a total of 5 hours and 31 minutes, it now over. Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Kornienko are back aboard the International Space Station.
5-hr, 31-min spacewalk ends at 3:51pm ET as Padalka, Kornienko close hatch to Pirs airlock. pic.twitter.com/VduxyHCqmi
— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) August 10, 2015
