spacetoday.net: Cosmonauts perform ISS spacewalk

Posted: Thu, May 31, 2007, 8:40 AM ET (1240 GMT)
ISS spacewalk on 2007 May 30 (NASA)

Two Russian cosmonauts performed a spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Wednesday, installing shields on the exterior of an ISS module. Cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov spent five hours and 25 minutes outside the ISS starting at 3:05 pm EDT (1905 GMT) Wednesday. The primary purpose of the spacewalk was to begin the installation of Service Module Debris Protection panels on the exterior of the Zvezda module, providing the module with enhanced protection from micrometeorites and orbital debris impacts. Additional panels will be installed during another EVA on June 6. The two also rerouted a cable on a GPS antenna outside the station that will be used to help guide Europe's ATV cargo spacecraft to the station on its first flight late this year. The third member of the ISS crew, American astronaut Sunita Williams, remained inside the ISS during the EVA, supporting the work of the two cosmonauts.