New International Space Station crew to go on two spacewalks

PanARMENIAN.Net - International Space Station Expedition 34, which is to take off from the Baikonur Space Center in December, will perform two spacewalks under the Russian and US space programs, RIA Novosti reported.

“The tasks of the Russian spacewalk include installing equipment for a new scientific experiment. We will install an antenna and take samples of materials that will have spent more than a year exposed to cosmic radiation and weightlessness,” Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko said.

Roman Romanenko, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, and US astronaut Thomas Marshburn will be flown into space on Russia’s Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft on December 19. They will join Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Yevgeny Tarelkin, as well as NASA astronaut Kevin Ford.

During their 147-day mission, the new ISS crew members will also take part in docking and unloading six spacecraft: four Russian Progress cargo spacecraft, Europe’s ATV-4 space freighter and US SpX-2 spacecraft.