​Six astronauts participated in three independent extravehicular missions from two space stations in orbit (the International Space Station and the China Space Station) for maintenance operations at two space outposts.

In order for astronauts to go outside the spacecraft or space station, they must be equipped with a suit specially designed to allow them to not only live safely for several hours (ie with supplies of air, water, electricity). and heating system) but also be flexible enough to allow them to perform the various necessary actions.

Basically, the suits used for extraterrestrial activities are mini spaceships that take the form of an astronaut and allow him to live for a limited period of time in extremely harsh conditions. The first extravehicular activity was carried out by cosmonaut Alexei Leonov in 1965, and in those years such missions were extremely risky: the American astronaut Gene Cernan came very close to death during the Gemini 9 mission, being outside the capsule).

Josh Cassda and Frank Rubio prepared the installation of the new solar panels

Americans Josh Cassda and Frank Rubio left the Quest Gateway on Tuesday at 16:14 (Romanian time) to prepare the installation of next-generation solar panels (iROSA) that will supplement the electricity available on board the International Space Station (ISS). ).

They are mounted on top of the old panels, which are even partially closed, but given that they are more efficient, the total energy produced is higher than before they were installed. So far, only two of the six new solar panels that were launched into orbit in the sealed portion of the Dragon capsule during resupply missions have been installed.

The first two pairs arrived at the ISS as part of the CRS-22 and CRS-26 missions, and the last transport is expected in January 2023 with the Dragon capsule as part of the CRS-27 mission. It was the first spacewalk for two American astronauts, who spent 7 hours and 11 minutes outside the space station, and the first extravehicular activity by Americans since March, when NASA suspended the activity due to problems with the spacesuit.

In 2014, such extravehicular activity had to end tragically for European astronaut Luca Parmitano: a coolant leak occurred inside his helmet, the level of which quickly rose, and the astronaut risked drowning. Fortunately, he made it safely inside the station, but NASA has not determined the exact cause of this incident, which has since been repeated several times, but on a much smaller scale.

The last astronaut to experience the emotion was the German Matthias Maurer on March 23, 2023, and after this event NASA launched a new investigation, suspending all further extravehicular activity until the situation is clarified (astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti conducted extravehicular activity from the Russian sector of the station this summer).

Today’s astronaut suits used for extravehicular activities (called Extravehicular Mobility Units or EMUs in NASA jargon) were manufactured in the 1980s, have also been used on space shuttle missions, and are starting to show their age, but the good news is that that NASA has signed a contract with Axiom Space for a new generation of astronaut suits for the Artemis missions, the suits that astronauts will wear when they step on the moon. Before the flight to the moon, the spacesuits will be tested aboard the International Space Station, and it is possible that they will replace the old spacesuits, which are causing more and more problems.

Serhii Prokopiev and Dmytro Petelin continued external work on the “Science” module.

Since Russia uses its own astronaut suits (called “Orlan”), they did not suffer from the problem that the American astronauts faced. Since March, there have been 6 such spacewalks, all necessary to connect the new Science Module to the rest of the space station. That’s exactly what Serhii Prokopiev and Dmytro Petelin did on Thursday, November 17, at 16:39 (Romanian time) after exiting the Russian Poisk module, which is normally used for Russian extra-ship activities.

The Science Module, docked with the ISS on July 29, 2021, is Russia’s last major contribution to the International Space Station and significantly expands the Russian sector of the station, but requires a number of electrical connections and work performed by astronauts outside the station. Unlike the American suits, which consist of two parts, the Russian ones are one-piece, and they are not new either: although there have been several models, the current Orlan suits date back to the 70s, used in missions. Salyut-6, Salyut-7 or Mir.

Serhii Prokopiev and Dmytro Petelin re-entered the “Search” module of the ISS after 6 hours and 25 minutes, ticking off all the main tasks of extravehicular activity.

Chen Dong and Cai Xuzhe worked around the Chinese Mengtian module

And also on November 17th, Chen Dong and Cai Xuzhi donned the Feigun suits (inspired by the Russian Orlan suits) and left the Tianhe Central Module of the Chinese space station at 05:15 (Romanian time), also on a rendezvous mission with the space station’s newest module, Mengtian, docked at Tianhe on October 31 after being launched on the already known Chang Zheng 5B rocket.

The taikonauts spent 5 hours and 34 minutes outside the space station, marking the third extravehicular rendezvous by the Shanzhou-14 crew and the 8th extravehicular rendezvous performed by China, after Zhai Zhigang in 2008. It was the second exit from the space station for Chen Dong and Cai Xuzhe.

By the end of the year, 5 more non-automotive events are planned

Russia is planning three spacewalks to complete the commissioning of Europe’s robotic arm (attached to the Science module), and the Americans will go into space twice more in December to continue installing new iROSA solar panels. Although extravehicular activity aboard the Chinese space station is announced shortly before its launch, it is unlikely that we will see such extravehicular activity from the Tianhe module this year, but there is no doubt that the future crew of Shenzhou 15, which will be launched this year, has a number of such activities in your list of goals.