On 3 May 2023 at 2000 GMT, Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin began another spacewalk. Their mission objective was to relocate an experiment airlock from the Rassvet module to the Nauka science module. Cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev worked from inside the station to grab hold of the airlock using the European Robotic Arm (ERA). He then slowly moved it from Rassvet to Nauka. The relocated airlock is intended to deploy Russian experiment and small satellites from inside the Nauka module. Before returning, Prokopyev deployed approximately 5 kg of spent equipment that was no longer required. The bundle will safely burn up in the atmosphere.
Cosmonauts in their Orlan spacesuits with Prokopyev in the red stripes on the left and Petelin in the blue stripes on the right. Courtesy: NASA TV.
With their mission objective completed, Prokopyev and Petelin concluded their EVA at 0311 GMT on 4 May 2023 after 7 hours and 11 minutes.
This was Prokopyev’s fifth and Petelin third career spacewalk. It is the fifth spacewalk at the station in 2023 and the 262nd EVA for space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.
The two cosmonauts are expected to conduct their next EVA on 12 May with the objective of deploying a radiator on Nauka and then connecting the mechanical, electrical, and hydraulic lines.
In a separate event, on the 6 May 2023 at 1110 GMT, CREW DRAGON – NASA CREW 6 (ENDEAVOUR) – undocked from the Harmony module’s space-facing port (IDA-3). Onboard were Commander Stephen Bowen, Pilot Warren “Woody” Hoburg, Mission Specialist Sultan AlNeyadi Mission Specialist Andrey Fedyaev, On the 6 May 2023 at 1201 GMT CREW DRAGON – NASA CREW 6 (ENDEAVOUR) successfully docked to the Harmony’s top port IDA-2 completing the relocation mission. This relocation to will free up Harmony’s IDA-3 port for the upcoming uncrewed DRAGON CRS-28 cargo mission, expected to launch in June 2023.
