Image above: A chess board is set up in the station’s Harmony Node with Expedition 17 playing against the control centers around the world. Credit: NASA TV
Expedition 17 Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko have completed this week’s spacewalk preparations. The cosmonauts practiced procedures they would use in the unlikely event Pirs -- a Russian airlock and docking compartment -- failed to repressurize after a spacewalk. The emergency scenario would require the fully suited spacewalkers to enter a docked Soyuz vehicle, undock from the station and redock to another station port. The first spacewalk of Expedition 17 is targeted for Thursday, July 10. Volkov and Kononenko will exit Pirs, perform some inspections and remove a separation bolt from the docked Soyuz to be analyzed later inside the International Space Station. They will also take some photographs of the Soyuz and remove and install thermal insulation.
Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff has been performing station maintenance, inspections and training for medical operation proficiency as the station’s crew medical officer.
Over the weekend, the crew members will have their private family conferences and perform their daily exercise routines. + Read more about Expedition 17+ View crew timelines
International Space Station CalendarFind out when the U.S. launched its first satellite and other historical tidbits with photos that highlight 50 years of NASA milestones and a decade of space station assembly.
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