Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev accomplished their main goal, which was left unfinished during a previous spacewalk on Aug. 17. These tasks include transferring the European robotic arm’s external control panel from one operating area to another, and testing a rigid mechanism on the robotic arm that will be used to facilitate payload grabbing. In addition, the pair extended a Strela telescopic boom from the Zarya cabin to the Poisk cabin.
Spacewalkers Oleg Artemyev (bottom left) and Denis Matveev (right) extend the Russian Strela cargo crane from the Zarya module to the Poisk module after working on a European robotic arm on September 2, 2022. Source: NASAtelevisiontower
The space station crew plans to conduct more spacewalks to continue equipping the European robotic arm and to activate the airlock of the Nauka module for future spacewalks. European robotic arms are used to move spacewalkers and various payloads around the Russian module portion of the space station.
The European robotic arm is seen to be mounted on the Nauka module of the International Space Station, the workplace where two astronauts today conduct their spacewalk.
Artemyev wears a red-striped Russian spacesuit, while Matveev wears a blue-striped Russian spacesuit. It was Artemyev’s eighth spacewalk in his career and Matveev’s fourth. This is the eighth spacewalk of the space station in 2022 and the 253rd spacewalk of the entire station assembly, maintenance and upgrade.