Russian Cosmonauts Successfully Complete First of Two Spacewalks to Activate European Robotic Arms in ISS

Two Russian cosmonauts just completed their spacewalks to install the automated arm's control panel.

According to UPI.com, Russian cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev left the Russian-built Nauka scientific module at 11:00 a.m. EDT to install the automated arm's control panel, returning to the ISS at 5:48 p.m. EDT.

NASA said this was Artemyev's fourth spacewalk and Matveev's first. This year, this will be the station's fourth spacewalk and the 249th overall for space station installation, maintenance, and alterations.

Cosmonauts Finish First 7-Hour Spacewalk

The almost seven-hour operation to activate the 37-foot-long arm, which will be used to transport heavy goods and help spacewalkers, was live-streamed on NASA's website during the spacewalk.

The two cosmonauts also installed railings on Nauka and removed the arm's protective coverings.

According to the European Space Agency, the new arm is capable of transporting a weight of up to 17,000 pounds and will traverse through the Russian portion of the space station.

It's one of three technologies that can carry and move massive things beyond the International Space Station.

The cosmonauts will do a second spacewalk on April 28 to remove the arm's protective thermal blankets on Nauka, which were used during its launch in July 2021 but are no longer necessary, Space.com said.

The cosmonauts will also perform further work on the new robotic arm, including mobility testing.

Artemyev and Matveev's two spacewalks are most likely only the start of the Nauka module's systems being fully enabled.

More Spacewalk Schedule

NASA noted that more spacewalks are scheduled to finish equipping the European robotic arm and activate Nauka's airlock in readiness for future spacewalks.

The cosmonauts will remove thermal blankets used to cover the robotic arm when it was launched last year and the Nauka module during a second spacewalk on April 28.

CNN said Matveev and Artemyev would also bend the robotic arm's joints, loosen constraints, and put it to the test in terms of grappling.

These are the first of several planned spacewalks to get Nauka and the robotic arm ready for future usage.

When asked how the geopolitical tensions with Russia have affected life on the space station, NASA astronaut Dr. Tom Marshburn said it'd been a "collegial, very pleasant relationship up here, and we're working together" at a Friday press conference.

According to him, the NASA team and Russian cosmonauts have meals and watch movies together on a daily basis.

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