Cosmonauts Install Protective Panels on Second Spacewalk

Although the International Space Station is pretty safe from micrometeorite impacts, NASA wanted to give the station an extra layer of protection. So, cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov made their second trip outside the station on Wednesday, installing scientific equipment and improving the Zvezda module’s armour.

The team exited the station from the Pirs airlock on Wednesday, and spent 5 hours and 25 minutes performing a series of outside jobs. Their first task was to install a Russian scientific experiment called Biorisk. This measures the effects of microorganisms on structural materials used in space. This was hooked up to the outside of Pirs.

Then they connected an Ethernet cable onto a section of the Zarya module. This task is only halfway finished. They’ve got a second part to do in a future spacewalk.

Finally, they moved to the Zvezda Service Module, and installed a series of 2.5 cm (1 inch) thick aluminum panels to the outside of the module. These will give Zvezda more protection if it’s unlucky enough to get hit by a micrometeorite.

The station’s third resident, American astronaut Suni Williams, remained inside to help coordinate activities.

Original Source: NASA News Release