ISS Russian Astronauts: Living and Working on the ISS

Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 32 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko donned their Orlan spacesuits Friday, with help from Flight Engineer Sergei Revin. 

They were performing a fit-check in advance of Monday’s scheduled Russian spacewalk, the first of the mission, which is slated to begin at 10:40 a.m. EDT and last about 6.5 hours.

Padalka and Malenchenko will move the Strela-2 hand-operated crane from the Pirs docking compartment to the Zarya module, preparing Pirs for its replacement with a new laboratory and docking module.

Strela-1 was moved from Pirs to the Poisk Mini-Research Module in February.

The pair also will deploy a small satellite and install debris shields on the Zvezda module.

Flight Engineers Joe Acaba, Suni Williams and Aki Hoshide reviewed procedures for a U.S. spacewalk that Williams and Hoshide will perform on Aug. 30 while Acaba choreographs activities from inside the station.

The pair will replace a faulty Main Bus Switching Unit – a distribution hub for the complex’s power system – on the station’s truss.

They also will replace a camera on a robotic arm extension boom and route cables for the Russian Multipurpose Laboratory replacing Pirs.