Samantha Cristoforetti, Italian ESA astronaut, is making her first outing from the ISS on July 21, 2022. This is the first time that a European astronaut has ventured outside the station in this way.
For the first time, a European astronaut will perform an exit outside the International Space Station (ISS). This Thursday, July 21, 2022, a pair formed by Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, from the European Space Agency (ESA), and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemiev, from the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), will venture into space, outside the station cabin.In total, the exit outside the ISS could last up to 7 hours.
ESA has planned to broadcast this outing live. Here’s how to follow the event online.
- When ? Thursday July 21, 2022, from 3 p.m.;
- Where ? The release can be followed on the web TV of the ESA site;
- What ? A spacewalk, outside the ISS, performed by astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti and cosmonaut Oleg Artemiev.
First outing, but second stay in the ISS for Samantha Cristoforetti
This is the very first outing from the ISS for Samantha Cristoforetti, who is not, however, on her first stay in the station. The Italian engineer and pilot, selected to become an ESA astronaut in 2009, has already carried out a mission in the ISS between November 2014 and June 2015. She has been back in the station since April 2022 – she had then traveled to aboard Space-X’s Crew Dragon, during the Crew-4 flight. Her first spacewalk also marks the first time a European female astronaut has stepped out of the station.
The ESA specifies that its astronaut and the Russian cosmonaut who accompanies him will wear Orlan spacesuits – equipment manufactured by Russia. Oleg Artemiev will wear the one with red stripes, while Samantha Cristoforetti will slip into those with blue stripes. To help the pair get out of the station, Russian cosmonaut Sergei Korsakov will be stationed in the Poisk module of the ISS – a module designed to allow extravehicular outings.
Once outside, Samantha Cristoforetti and Oleg Artemiev will have work to do. They will have a series of tasks to perform on the Nauka module, docked at the station since 2021. During their spacewalk, the astronaut and cosmonaut will have 10 nano satellites to deploy. They will also need to install a pole between the Zarya and Poisk modules, which should be used during future spacewalks.
This outing will also be the third dedicated to the preparation of the European robotic arm, a space robot more than 11 meters long. It must make it possible to handle payloads of several tons on the Russian part of the ISS.Samantha Cristoforetti and Oleg Artemiev will have to move its external control panel and install a temporary adapter for this arm.