The International Space Station's two Russian astronauts are conducting
a spacewalk Tuesday to install a docking target for a Russian research
module scheduled to arrive next year.
In a statement on its Web
site, the U.S. space agency, NASA, said ISS commander Sergei Volkov
and flight engineer Oleg Kononenko are expected to be outside the space
station for 5.5 hours.
During their walk, the astronauts will
also install a new science experiment on the station and remove an old
one that measured the effects of the space environment on
microorganisms.
This is the Russian astronauts' second spacewalk
in a week. Last Thursday, they removed an explosive bolt from their
Soyuz spacecraft docked at the spacestation.
The bolt had the
explosive power of a large firecracker. It was one of several used to
separate the Soyuz's crew compartment from its equipment module.
Russian
space engineers believe faulty explosive bolts may have caused two
previous Soyuz capsules to re-enter the Earth at excessive speeds and
an incorrect angle.
Some information for this report was provided byAP.
