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MOSCOW | Xinhua | Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub completed their spacewalk tasks ahead of schedule, returning to the International Space Station (ISS) two hours earlier than planned, Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos said on Thursday.
Roscosmos said that the spacewalk lasted a total duration of 4 hours and 36 minutes.
During the spacewalk, Kononenko and Chub brought the radar of the Napor-miniRSA experiment into working condition. They also installed equipment for the Perspektiva-KS experiment, which involves composite materials that autonomously assume the required geometric shape.
The cosmonauts also placed scientific experiment apparatus Kvartz-M on the station’s exterior and removed the Biorisk-MSN experiment container from the Poisk module. They also deployed a pressure and deposition control unit on the same module. At the beginning of the spacewalk, they collected samples for the Test experiment from the surface of the Nauka module.
The Napor-miniRSA experiment is aimed at Earth observation using a synthetic aperture radar. The Kvartz-M experiment studies the corrosion of the station’s exterior under the influence of the upper atmosphere.
The Perspektiva-KM experiment is designed to test the technology for creating deployable structures in orbit made from layered composite materials with a shape memory effect, meaning they can return to their original geometric shape after being folded.
The Biorisk-MSN and Test experiments are intended to study the resistance of the station’s materials to bacteria and fungi living on it, as well as emissions from the station’s engines and docked ships.
Kononenko and Chub have been aboard the ISS since Sept. 21, 2023. Their first joint spacewalk took place on Oct. 25-26, 2023, during which they detached hydraulic circuits from a leaking additional heat exchanger on the Nauka module, launched the student nanosatellite Parus-MGTU, and installed a compact radar with a synthetic aperture for the Napor-miniRSA experiment, although the radar panels were not fully deployed.
As part of their expedition, Kononenko and Chub are expected to conduct up to four spacewalks. Prior to this, Kononenko, who is on his fifth mission to the ISS, has conducted six spacewalks, while Chub has completed one. ■
