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Russian cosmonauts to use ERA robotic arm for radiator transfer during next spacewalk

The heat exchanger is needed to remove extra thermal loads from the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module during scientific experiments

ISS, November 22. /TASS/. Russian crewmembers working aboard the International Space Station (ISS) will use the ERA robotic arm to move a heat exchanger from the Rassvet mini-research module to the Nauka multipurpose lab on the ISS Russian segment during their next spacewalk, TASS special reporter, Roscosmos cosmonaut Dmitry Petelin announced on Tuesday.

The radiator will be transferred using the ERA robotic arm that will be handled by female cosmonaut Anna Kikina from inside the orbital outpost. Petelin and his teammate Sergey Prokopyev will carry out their work outside the space station. They will control the radiator’s transfer, disconnect cables and handle the mechanical docking.

The heat exchanger is needed to remove extra thermal loads from the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module during scientific experiments.

Petelin and Prokopyev have already begun their preparations for the next spacewalk scheduled for November 25. They are expected to open the hatches at 2:15 p.m. Moscow time on that day. On November 22, they will collect tools, prepare their spacesuit’s detachable elements, study the procedure of extravehicular work and talk to experts at Russia’s Mission Control.

On November 17, 2021, Russia’s world-renowned TASS news agency and the State Space Corporation Roscosmos signed a memorandum of cooperation, under which a TASS news office was established aboard the ISS. Cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin was the first TASS special reporter in space. His flight lasted 12 days. Cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev was the second TASS special reporter in space. Presently, Dmitry Petelin is heading the TASS outer space-based branch.