3.09.2022
The European robotic arm (ERA) is pictured extending out from the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module during a mobility test several days after Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev activated the ERA during a seven-hour and 42-minute spacewalk on April 28, 2022.
NASA will provide live coverage on Friday, Sept. 2, of a spacewalk with two Russian cosmonauts to continue outfitting the European robotic arm on the International Space Station’s Nauka laboratory.
Coverage will begin at 9 a.m. EDT on NASA Television’s Media Channel, the NASA app, and agency’s website. The spacewalk is scheduled to begin around 9:20 a.m.
NASA also will air an Artemis I prelaunch briefing on NASA TV’s Public Channel at 9 a.m. Once the Artemis briefing concludes, spacewalk coverage will air on both the Media and Public Channels.
Spacewalk coverage and the Artemis briefing will be available to watch online at:
Expedition 67 Commander Oleg Artemyev and Flight Engineer Denis Matveev, both of Roscosmos, will exit the station’s space-facing Poisk module. The primary objectives of the spacewalk are to relocate an external control panel for the arm from one operating area to another and test a rigidizing mechanism on the arm that will be used to facilitate the grasping of payloads.
Artemyev will wear a Russian Orlan spacesuit with red stripes, while Matveev will wear a Russian Orlan suit with blue stripes. This will be the eighth spacewalk for Artemyev and the fourth for Matveev.
Friday’s spacewalk will complete unfinished tasks from a spacewalk Aug. 17, which was cut short after Artemyev’s spacesuit showed abnormal battery readings about 2 hours and 17 minutes into the spacewalk. Artemyev and Matveev completed the installation of a pair of cameras on the arm and removed parts attached to the arm’s end effector before the spacewalk ended.
The European robotic arm will be used to move payloads and equipment outside the Russian segment of the station, joining the Canadian-built Canadarm2 robotic arm and the Japanese arm already supporting station maintenance, operations, and research.
Quelle: NASA
----
Update: 4.09.2022
.
Russian cosmonauts work on robotic arm outside space station
Two Russian cosmonauts completed a 7-hour, 47-minute spacewalk outside the International Space Station Friday to continue testing and readying the European Robotic Arm for regular operations, finishing tasks originally planned for a spacewalk last month that was cut short by a spacesuit battery problem.
Cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev opened the hatch of the Poisk airlock module at 9:25 a.m. EDT (1325 GMT) Friday, making the official start of the spacewalk. The cosmonauts wore Orlan spacesuits for the excursion.
Artemyev and Matveev worked ahead of schedule for much of the spacewalk. They relocated an external control panel for the European Robotic Arm, and tested the arm’s rigidizing mechanism that will be used to grasp payloads for movement outside the station. Those tasks were originally scheduled for a spacewalk Aug. 17, which ended early after abnormal battery readings on Artemyev’s Orlan spacesuit.
The battery on Artemyev’s spacesuit was replaced and re-tested, clearing the way for Friday’s spacewalk.
Before the battery issue cut short the Aug. 17 spacewalk, the cosmonauts completed the installation of two cameras on the elbow of the European Robotic Arm, and moved insulation and a launch restraint from one of the arm’s two end effectors, or hands.
The excursion outside the space station Friday was the eighth spacewalk in Artemyev’s career, and the fourth for Matveev.
Artemyev and Matveev also extended a Strela telescoping boom from the Zarya module to the Poisk module, positioning the aid for use on future spacewalks. The cosmonauts ended their spacewalk at 5:12 p.m. EDT (2112 GMT).
The 37-foot-long (11.3-meter) European Robotic Arm launched last July on Russia’s Nauka multipurpose laboratory module, and joins similar Canadian and Japanese arms outside the space station. The robotic arms are designed to move payloads and hardware to different mounting posts on the external structure of the complex.
The Canadian and Japanese robotic arms are positioned outside the U.S.-led segment of the space station, while the Russian segment is accessible to the European arm. Like the Canadian robotic arm, the European arm has the ability to “inchworm” between grapple fixtures, or base points, at multiple locations on the space station.
The excursion Friday was the 253rd spacewalk for assembly, maintenance, and upgrades of the International Space Station, and the eighth outside the ISS this year. It was the fifth spacewalk primarily dedicated to preparing the European Robotic Arm for operations.
Russian cosmonauts have additional excursions outside the space station on their schedule. They will continue work on the European Robotic Arm and prepare the airlock on the Nauka lab module to support future spacewalks.
Quelle: SN