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Expedition 50 Spacewalks Prepare Station for Arrival of Commercial Crew Spacecraft

Astronaut in spacesuit at work outside space station with modules at either side of frame
Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet of ESA is seen floating outside the International Space Station during a spacewalk. Pesquet and Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA conducted the six-hour-and-34-minute spacewalk on March 24, 2017. A second spacewalk, by Kimbrough and NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, is scheduled for Thursday, March 30.

Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) is seen floating outside the International Space Station during a spacewalk. Pesquet and Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA conducted the six-hour-and-34-minute spacewalk on March 24, 2017. The two astronauts successfully disconnected cables and electrical connections on the Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 (PMA-3) to prepare for its robotic move on Sunday, March 26. PMA-3 will be moved from the port side of the Tranquility module to the space-facing side of the Harmony module, where it will become home for the station’s second International Docking Adapter, which will be delivered on a future flight of a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft. They also lubricated the latching end effector on the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator “extension” for the Canadarm2 robotic arm, inspected a radiator valve and replaced cameras on the Japanese segment of the outpost.

A second spacewalk is scheduled for Thursday, March 30 at 8 a.m. EDT. Kimbrough and Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson of NASA will complete the PMA-3 attachment work on the Harmony module’s space-facing port. The duo will also install computer relay boxes containing software upgrades to enable future commercial crew vehicle dockings at the space station.

Image Credit: NASA