Roscosmos cosmonauts to conduct first spacewalk of 2024 on April 25

Cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko inspects the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft during a spacewalk on Dec. 11, 2018. (Image credit: NASA)

Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, who are part of Expedition 71 crew, are set to embark on the first spacewalk of 2024 outside the International Space Station (ISS). Scheduled to commence at 10:55am EDT on April 25, the spacewalk is expected to last up to seven hours.

According to NASA, the two cosmonauts are scheduled to exit the station through the Poisk airlock to finalize the installation of a panel on a synthetic radar system located on the Nauka module. Additionally, they will mount equipment and conduct experiments on the Poisk module to assess the extent of corrosion on various surfaces and modules of the station. Furthermore, they will configure hardware and set up experiments within the Roscosmos segment of the space station.

This highly anticipated spacewalk is also the 270th in support of the space station and serves as the seventh for Kononenko and the second for Chub, who will be distinguished by their respective Orlan spacesuits with red and blue stripes.

NASA will provide live coverage of the spacewalk through various platforms, including NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency's website, ensuring global audiences can witness this extraordinary feat.

Expedition 71

The ongoing Expedition 71, which commenced on April 5, 2024, and is slated to conclude in September 2024, is a pivotal mission conducted aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to advance space health research and support future long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars. As per NASA, the crew led by NASA astronauts Tracy C. Dyson, Mike Barratt, Matthew Dominick, Jeanette Epps, and Alexander Grebenkin, is dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of neurodegenerative diseases, studying space botany, investigating fluid shifts induced by space travel, and exploring algae-based life support systems.

Below are four important tasks planned for Expedition 71 aboard the microgravity laboratory:

Modeling neuroinflammation: Scientists are studying how inflammation in the brain, common in diseases like Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis, works. They're making mini-brains from special cells taken from patients and testing new drugs to fight this inflammation. The goal is to find better ways to diagnose these diseases, understand how aging affects the brain, and develop treatments.

Protecting plants from spaceflight stressors: Researchers are looking at how being in space affects plants. They want to know how things like being weightless and being exposed to strong sunlight change plants at different levels, from tiny cells to the whole plant. Understanding this could help improve how we grow plants in space for future missions.

Reversing fluid shifts: When astronauts are weightless, fluid in their bodies moves upwards, which can cause eye problems and other health issues. Scientists are testing special cuffs around the thighs to see if they can stop this fluid movement and protect astronauts' health during long space trips. These cuffs might also help people on Earth with similar health problems.

Incredible edible algae: Researchers are studying a special kind of algae called Spirulina to see if it can be used as food and oxygen in space. Spirulina could help remove carbon dioxide from spacecraft and provide fresh food for astronauts during long missions. It might also protect astronauts from harmful space radiation and help people on Earth undergoing radiation treatment.