spacetoday.net: Record-setting spacewalk fails to install cameras on ISS

Posted: Sat, Dec 28, 2013, 11:30 AM ET (1630 GMT)
ISS EVA on 2013 December 27 (NASA)

Two Russian cosmonauts set the record for the longest Russian spacewalk ever on Friday, but had to remove commercial cameras they installed on the exterior of the International Space Station after they failed to work. Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy spent eight hours and seven minutes outside the ISS that ended at 4:07 pm EST (2107 GMT) on Friday, breaking a record for longest Russian spacewalk set in August by over a half-hour. The main task of the EVA was to install a pair of high-definition video cameras for a Canadian company, UrtheCast. After putting the cameras in place on the Zvezda module, though, mission controllers in Moscow instructed them to remove the cameras because of a technical problem with them. The cosmonauts brought the cameras back into the station for further analysis. The two also replaced an existing experiment platform on the station with an upgraded version, but the time spent with the camera meant that they were unable to complete several other smaller tasks during the spacewalk.