Upcoming Spacewalk for Expedition 70: Upgrading Solar Tracking and Communication Systems

Expedition 70 Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub of Roscosmos is captured in a photograph during an extravehicular activity to examine a reserve radiator, deploy a miniature satellite, and set up communication equipment on the International Space Station’s Nauka research module. Photo Credit: NASA

The crew members of Expedition 70 are in preparation for an ensuing extravehicular activity scheduled for early November, aimed at performing maintenance tasks on the International Space Station’s (ISS) external structure. The next spacewalk for the United States orbital segment has been rescheduled to Wednesday, November 1, to afford the ISS crew and the flight control team extra time for preparation.

Inaugural Spacewalk for Moghbeli and O’Hara

NASA astronauts Loral O’Hara and Jasmin Moghbeli are slated to egress from the station’s Quest airlock to disassemble an electronics unit known as the Radio Frequency Group, which is part of a communication antenna array. Additionally, they will replace one of the dozen trundle bearing assemblies situated in the station’s port solar alpha rotary joint. These bearings facilitate the solar panels in tracking the Sun. This extravehicular activity was originally scheduled for Monday, October 30.

Expedition 70 Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko (suit marked with red stripes) and Nikolai Chub (suit marked with blue stripes), both representing Roscosmos, were photographed during an extravehicular task to scrutinize a backup radiator, launch a nanosatellite, and mount communication hardware on the ISS’s Nauka research module. Photo Credit: NASA

Designations for the U.S. Spacewalk 89

This will be the inaugural spacewalk for both Moghbeli and O’Hara. Moghbeli will act as the first extravehicular activity crew member and will don a suit featuring red stripes. O’Hara will serve as the second extravehicular crew member, wearing a suit without markings.

Throughout Thursday, O’Hara and Moghbeli were occupied with tool checks and preparing the equipment they will use outside the Quest airlock during the maintenance extravehicular activity. They were also joined by astronauts Andreas Mogensen of the European Space Agency (ESA) and Satoshi Furukawa of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for a review of the extravehicular procedures in the afternoon.

Preparations by Expedition 70 Commander Andreas Mogensen

Expedition 70 Commander Andreas Mogensen of the European Space Agency (ESA) aided NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli in testing her spacesuit and its components inside the International Space Station’s Quest airlock, as part of preparations for the upcoming extravehicular activity. Photo Credit: NASA

Daily Tasks of the ISS Personnel

Loral O’Hara commenced her day by setting up communication equipment needed for a study on laser technology. Jasmin Moghbeli allocated some time to research maintenance, extracting a malfunctioning electronic unit from a scientific freezer and preparing it for storage. Andreas Mogensen evaluated air samples within the station and then transferred data gathered from wearable health-monitoring devices.

Satoshi Furukawa spent his day engaged in multiple scientific tasks that included studying the effects of microgravity on astronauts and configuring a biological microscope. The astronaut, who has previously visited the station, initially took a cognitive test to assess the influence of long-duration space missions on brain structure and functions. Later, he set up a microscope to study cellular responses to weightlessness, and scanned the veins in Mogensen’s neck, shoulder, and leg using the Ultrasound 2 device, under guidance from Earth-based medical personnel.

The station’s trio of cosmonauts—Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub, and Konstantin Borisov—took extended rest on Thursday, following a spacewalk lasting seven hours and 41 minutes the previous day. They resumed activities in the mid-afternoon, focusing on post-extravehicular clean-up and then convened a meeting with terrestrial experts. Borisov later conducted air sample collection for analysis and set up life support equipment within the Nauka research module.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Expedition 70’s upcoming spacewalk

More about Expedition 70’s upcoming spacewalk

• Expedition 70 Overview
• NASA’s Official Spacewalk Information
• International Space Station Maintenance Tasks
• European Space Agency’s Role in ISS
• Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Contribution to ISS
• Radio Frequency Group Details
• Trundle Bearing Assemblies in Solar Tracking
• Health Monitoring in Space Exploration