Russian cosmonauts to walk into open space on Monday

Two Russian cosmonauts Valery Korzun and Sergey Treschyov are scheduled on Monday to leave the International Space Station (ISS) for spacewalk. This was disclosed on Monday by the Russian Mission Control Centre (TSUP).

The third member of the crew - American astronaut Peggy Whitson - will ensure security and control of the spacewalk from one of the ISS modules.

"The cosmonauts will spend approximately 6 hours in outer space," TSUP specified. "After the cosmonauts reach the surface of the ISS, through the Russian interjacent module "Pirs", they will continue their work on shielding the Russian service module with the anti-meteorite panels, which had been earlier delivered to the ISS." Then they will install protective shields, which are designed to protect the ISS surface from streams of rocket fuel, while spaceships dock and detach from the ISS.

To finish up the work, the cosmonauts will conduct a visual estimation of the ISS surface and the docking module "Pirs". On September 22, another cargo spaceship, "Progress", carrying fuel, water, oxygen and food, will dock to the "Pirs" module, the specialists from the Mission Control Centre informed.