ISS: Russian EVA breaks time record

NASA computer image of spacewalk in progress. Credit: NASA and NASASpaceFlight.com.

Yesterday morning cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Alexander Misurkin set a new Russian spacewalk duration record, coming in from the EVA after 7 hours and 29 minutes of maintenance and preparation for the new module coming later this year.

Yurchikhin outside the ISS, installing cable TV. I mean, installing cables for future power routing.

In fact, the cable routing was to extend ethernet wiring from the Zarya and Poisk modules, in preparation for the new module to replace the expiring Pirs module. AT one point in the EVA, cosmonaut Yurchikhim was positioned attached to the Russian cargo boom arm and moved into a working position outside Zarya to work on power cables.

Yurchikhin on the Strela robot arm.

While Yurchikhin continued preparations for the module installation, Misurkin installed an experiment on the outside of the Poisk module and then worked on cable installation as well. This was Misurkins second EVA, and Yurchikhins 7th (!). The EVA was the 172nd ISS spacewalk.