Russian cosmonauts toss old equipment overboard on ISS spacewalk

By Robert Z. Pearlman published about 2 hours ago
'Wave goodbye to it. Rest in peace.'



Russian cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev jettisons the Seismoprognoz, an experiment that measured seismic activity on Earth for almost 10 years from outside the International Space Station, during a spacewalk on June 22, 2023. The view is from a camera mounted on Prokopyev's spacesuit helmet. (Image credit: NASA TV)

Two Russian cosmonauts spent six hours outside the International Space Station on Thursday (June 22) cleaning up the exterior of the orbiting laboratory by removing and tossing overboard a trio of no longer needed devices, including a spent science experiment.

Expedition 69 commander Sergey Prokopyev and flight engineer Dmitry Petelin, both of Russia's federal space corporation Roscosmos, exited the space station's Poisk module at 10:24 a.m. EDT (1424 GMT) on Thursday.

In addition to jettisoning hardware, the spacewalk also included the installation of a new stanchion for high-speed telemetry equipment and the retrieval of a micrometeoroid impact experiment that had been mounted outside the space station for a number of years.

Prokopyev and Petelin made quick work of rerouting cables and disconnecting a data relay unit and a telemetry transmitter, as well as the hardware for a completed experiment that measured seismic activity on Earth, before throwing each overboard for their eventual disposal, burning up in Earth's atmosphere.

More:
https://www.space.com/iss-spacewalk-russian-equipment-jettison-june-2023?utm_source=notification