posted 10-25-2023 09:34 AM               

ISS Expedition 70: Russian Spacewalk 61

Two cosmonauts will conduct a spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Wednesday (Oct. 25), to install communications hardware and inspect a portion of the orbital complex.

Expedition 70 cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub will venture outside of the station's Poisk module to install a synthetic radar communications system and release a nanosatellite to test solar sail technology. While outside the station, they also will inspect and photograph an external backup radiator on the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module that experienced a coolant leak on Oct. 9.

The spacewalk is expected to begin at 2:10 p.m. EDT (1810 GMT) and could last up to seven hours.

The spacewalk will be the 268th in support of space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades. It will be the sixth for Kononenko, who will wear the Orlan spacesuit with red stripes and the first for Chub, who will wear the spacesuit with blue stripes.

posted 10-25-2023 08:35 PM               

Cosmonauts isolate radiator, encounter 'blob'

Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub got an up-close view of a coolant leak that was first observed flowing from an external radiator earlier this month.

Kononenko came so close to the growing "blob" or "droplet" — as the pooling liquid was described — that one of his tethers became contaminated, necessitating it being bagged and left outside of the space station when the spacewalk ended.

Kononenko and Chub configured a number of valves to cut off the external radiator from its coolant supply. After that was complete and before noticing the growing deposit, Kononenko reported seeing a myriad of small holes on the surface of the radiator's panels.

The "blob" was believed to have formed from the residual material that was disturbed when the work was done to close the valves. Knowing in advance they might come in contact with the coolant, the cosmonauts were prepared with tissues and cloths to wipe down their spacesuits and tools so as to not bring any the material back inside the space station.

Kononenko and Chub also worked to install a synthetic radar communications system and released a nanosatellite to test solar sail technology. The radar, which will be used to monitor Earth's environment, was the first science payload to be mounted on Nauka's exterior. The radar's panels only partially deployed and an attempt by the cosmonauts to get it to fully deploy was not successful.

The cube-shaped small sat, which was developed by a team at the Bauman Moscow State Technical University, was designed to test a means for deploying an experimental solar sail. With a little coaxing, the nanosatellite emerged from its housing and slowly tumbled away from the space station, but the solar wings did not extend when planned.

The 7-hour, 41-minute spacewalk came to its end with the hatch being closed to the Poisk module airlock at 9:30 p.m. EDT (0130 GMT on Oct. 26).

The EVA was the 268th in support of space station assembly, maintenance and upgrades. It was the first by Chub and the sixth spacewalk by Kononenko, who has now logged a total of 41 hours and 43 minutes working in Orlan spacesuits in the vacuum of space.

posted 11-04-2023 04:24 PM            

• АНДРЕЙ КОНОНЕНКО - his son
  
• АЛИСА КОНОНЕНКО - his daughter
  
• ТАТЬЯНА КОНОНЕНКО- his wife