MOSCOW, Oct. 26During a spacewalk, Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub launched the Parus-MSTU student satellite using a special launcher as part of an experiment to study motion using solar sails, broadcast by Roscosmos.
Kononenko and Chub have already completed the main task of their exit — they disconnected the circuit of the additional radiator on the Nauka module from the main circuit of the module. This was necessary to disconnect the radiator backup circuit, which leaked on October 9th. In addition, the astronauts examined and photographed the leak so that experts on Earth could determine the cause of the leak.
After the satellite is launched, the astronauts will watch how the solar sail of the device unfolds. As the developers suggest, by changing the length of the sail bombarded by solar charged particles, it is possible to adjust the thrust and change the satellite’s orbit.
The starting device was also developed by Baumanka students. It is necessary for the nanosatellite to fly exactly along a straight path, which cannot always be achieved if the astronauts “throw” the devices with their own hands. It is expected that the device will be suitable for other satellites that astronauts will launch in the future from outer space.
Before launching, Kononenko and Chub installed the Napor-miniRSA earth surface monitoring experiment radar on the Nauka module, connected it and deployed it to its working position. The experiment was organized by the Rocket and Space Corporation (RSC) Energia; it is carried out in the interests of environmental management, environmental control and monitoring of emergency situations.
If Kononenko and Chub have time left, they will be assigned an additional task: replacing the fixing boards on the Zvezda service module that hold the cables in a docked state.
The cosmonauts opened the exit hatch of the Small Research Module «Poisk» at 20:49 Moscow time. It is expected that in total the astronauts will spend 6 hours and 52 minutes aboard the International Space Station. This is the first exit within the current mission of Kononenko and Chuba (located on the ISS on September 15, 2023), and already the sixth under the Russian program this year. Chub is working outside the ISS for the first time, Kononenko for the sixth time.