Science & Astronomy

Watch 2 Russian cosmonauts perform spacewalk today

Space.com May 12, 2023 2 min read

Watch 2 Russian cosmonauts perform spacewalk today_645e447d5d87b.jpeg

Watch 2 Russian cosmonauts perform spacewalk today (Image Credit: Space.com)

Two Russian cosmonauts will perform a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) today (May 12), and you can watch it live.

Sergey Prokopyev, commander of the International Space Station‘s current Expedition 69, and flight engineer Dmitry Petelin are scheduled to step into the void at 11:55 a.m. EDT (1555 GMT), kicking off an excursion expected to last about seven hours.

You can watch the action live here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA, or directly via the space agency (opens in new tab). Coverage will begin at 11:30 a.m. EDT (1530 GMT).

Related: International Space Station: Facts about the orbital laboratory

Russian cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev jettisons an 11-pound (5-kilogram) bundle of spent equipment and no longer needed items off the side of the International Space Station during a May 3, 2023 spacewalk. — Russian cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev jettisons an 11-pound (5-kilogram) bundle of spent equipment and no longer needed items off the side of the International Space Station during a May 3, 2023 spacewalk. (Image credit: NASA TV)

During the spacewalk, Prokopyev and Petelin will “translate toward the Nauka science module to deploy and activate a radiator they installed on April 19 during a previous spacewalk,” NASA officials wrote in an update (opens in new tab) on Wednesday (May 10).

Nauka is a relatively new addition to the ISS, having docked with the orbiting complex in July 2021. The module’s arrival was dramatic and a bit stressful; Nauka’s thrusters fired unexpectedly shortly after docking, briefly tilting the station.

Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin work to remove a radiator from the International Space Station's Rassvet module before installing it on the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module with assistance from the European robotic arm during a spacewalk on April 19, 2023. — Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin work to remove a radiator from the International Space Station’s Rassvet module before installing it on the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module with assistance from the European robotic arm during a spacewalk on April 19, 2023. (Image credit: NASA)

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Today’s excursion will be the third spacewalk that Prokopyev and Petelin conduct together during Expedition 69.

In addition to the April 19 extravehicular activity, the duo ventured outside the ISS on May 3 to transfer an airlock to the Nauka module, among other tasks.

Mike Wall is the author of “Out There (opens in new tab)” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in new tab). Follow us @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab), or on Facebook (opens in new tab) and Instagram (opens in new tab).