STATION NEWS -- Russians spacewalk to
retrieve biological samples
Moscow (UPI) Feb 3, 2016
disclaimer: image is for illustration
purposes only
Two Russians cosmonauts went on a
spacewalk Wednesday to retrieve and replace biological samples from outside the
International Space Station.
Cosmonauts Yuri Malenchenko and
Sergey Volkov set out to retrieve the samples that had been kept outside of the
space station for seven years and put new science trays in their place.
The samples are part of the European
Space Agency's Expose-R experiment which tests the effects of radiation,
microgravity and extreme temperatures on different organic molecules in the
vacuum of space.
British astronaut Tim Peake and
American Tim Kopra attempted a spacewalk on Jan. 15, but the mission was cut
short after water leaked into Kopra's helmet. The cosmonauts use different
suits so a similar problem is not expected to occur.
NASA hosted a livestream of the
mission, which began with the cosmonauts releasing a flash drive that contained
videos and messages regarding the 70th anniversary of Russia's Victory Day.
During the 5 1/2-hour mission the two
were also tasked with testing a new glue for use on the station's exterior and
installing gap spanners to allow easier movement for crew members on future
spacewalks.
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