14 DAY TRIAL // Oleg Kononenko and Anton Shkaplerov, two members of the Expedition 30 crew to the International Space Station (ISS), will conduct an extra-vehicular activity (EVA) today, February 16. Their goal is to prepare the space facility for the addition of a new laboratory, sometime next year.
In 2013, the famous, Russian-built Pirs module will be discarded from the ISS, and replaced with another Russian creation, the Multipurpose Research Laboratory (MPRL) docking module.
In order for that to happen, astronauts from several Expeditions will have to work outside the ISS, removing or adding components around the areas where Pirs and the ISS join. The two spacewalkers who will go out today will make the first step towards this objective.
Both work for the Russian Federal Space Agency (RosCosmos). Their EVA will be focused around moving a component named Strela from Pirs to the Russian-built Poisk module. There are two Strelas aboard the ISS, and each will have to be moved from their current location.
A Strela is very similar to a robotic arm. It is a crane of sorts, whose main role is to move astronauts to difficult-to-reach places along the outer hull of the station. Each of the pair currently on the ISS is about 14 meters (46 feet) long, Space reports.
During the first spacewalk of 2012, the astronauts will also install a series of shields meant to protect the $100 billion structure from micrometeorites and other small-scale cosmic impactors. These shields are, however, ineffective against larger space debris.
But one of the Strelas is the main target. What is interesting about these cranes – as a different paradigm from the way the Western world does things, for example – is the fact that they are not hooked up to power supplies. They are operated by a simple hand crank. The Russians do have a way with building simple, sturdy things.
Also worthy of mention is the fact that one Strela will be used to move the other one today. The maneuvers are scheduled to begin at around 9:15 am EST (1415 GMT). Both Kononenko and Shkaplerov will wear Orlan spacesuits.