Station Crew Relaxes Before Second Spacewalk

Soaring high above the Earth, the Expedition 17 crew members aboard the International Space Station spent some time Monday relaxing before their second spacewalk, which is slated for about 1:10 p.m. EDT Tuesday. The crew also reviewed the spacewalk timeline and closed hatches on the station in preparation for the excursion.

During the spacewalk, Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko will install docking equipment on the zenith port of the Zvezda Service Module in preparation for the arrival of the new Russian Mini-Research Module-2 next year. They also will install a science experiment on Zvezda's hull and retrieve another experiment mounted on the module last year.

Throughout the weekend, the crew members prepared for the spacewalk by recharging their Orlan suit batteries, swapping out other suit components and reviewing timelines with Russian specialists at the Mission Control Center in Korolev, outside Moscow.

Source: NASA / PhysOrg.com