On Friday, starting at 16:25 Romanian time, an extravehicular event took place from the Russian sector of the International Space Station to continue the commissioning procedures of the European robotic arm attached to the Science Module. Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveyev spent 7 hours and 47 minutes outside the space station in their 7th spacewalk to complete the integration of the Russian Science module with the rest of the space station.

Just one day after the extravehicular activity of taikonauts Chen Dong and Liu Yang on the Chinese space station, two Russian cosmonauts, Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev, stepped outside the International Space Station to continue docking the Russian Science Module with the rest of the station and activate the European robotic a hand connected to Science.

Both resumed activities that began nearly 3 weeks ago, when extravehicular activity was interrupted, the two returned sooner inside the station due to a problem with Oleg Artemyev’s suit battery (a battery that was later replaced with a spare one, and the astronaut, according to NASA and Roscosmos statements, never did not threaten).

The European Robotic Arm (ERA) was the subject of controversy a few weeks ago, with Dmytro Rogozin, the former director of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, saying he would end all cooperation with the European Space Agency due to the sanctions. regarding the Russian Federation by the European Union.

Meanwhile, Rogozin was retired, and operations to activate the robotic arm continued. The Russian sector of the space station needs this robotic arm because it can be used to move various components outside the station from one place to another without the intervention of astronauts, and at the same time it can visually examine the exterior of the Russian modules. .

In addition to Europe’s new robotic arm, the International Space Station has two other robotic arms with which it can manipulate external components: Canadarm2 (to which the DEXTRE robotic “arm” can also be attached) and a robotic arm attached to Japan’s Kibo. module.

Canadarm2 is also used to dock the Cygnus cargo capsule to the docking port, as well as to move extravehicular activity astronauts from one module to another (a faster and less tiring option for astronauts who would otherwise have to move along the station’s modules). , a much more stressful activity than it seems at first glance).

It was the 253rd spacewalk in the history of the International Space Station, the 8th this year, the 8th for Oleg Artemyev and the 4th for Denis Matveev. American extravehicular activity has been suspended while NASA investigates the origin of a suit leak that has been experienced by several astronauts in the past.