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Sultan AlNeyadi of the United Arab Emirates will take the first steps of a historic spacewalk for the Arab world at 5.15pm (UAE time) on Friday. He and NASA astronaut Steven Bowen will spend about 6 hours and 30 minutes “in a vacuum” upgrading the power generation systems on the orbiting International Space Station (ISS).
Bowen will serve as Extravehicular Crew 1 (EV 1) and will wear a spacesuit with red stripes. AlNeyadi will serve as Extravehicular Crew 2 (EV 2) and will be wearing a white striped suit.
Here’s what will happen during the historic spacewalk:
EV 1 (Bowen) will be the first to disembark. He will have two cooler bags pre-stocked on the airlock kit. EV 2 (AlNeyadi) will come out next, and he’ll close the heat shield.
Once the body restraint is attached, AlNeyadi will head to the external storage platform to store his toolbox for later use; while Bowen heads to starboard (the right side of the ISS facing forward) for the integrated electronics assembly. AlNeyadi then went to port to retrieve an articulated portable foot restraint.
Both EV1 and EV2 will be wired on either side of an ISS power boost retrofit kit mounted on a Bravo Beta gimbal assembly (the mechanism used to maneuver the solar array).
They will also adjust the test cloth on the retrofit kit to remove thermal stress on the metal structure and wrap up activities and preparations for the future launch of the solar array on the International Space Station.
AlNeyadi then went to the radio frequency group (RFG) work place. He’ll cut off the flap section so it can go on to mount the tall antenna, then he’ll put the protective cap on. Meanwhile, Bowen will retrieve another portable foot restraint from the Harbor Crew Equipment Assistance Vehicle and attach it to the robotic arm before pulling the RF group hardware off the ISS.
AlNeyadi will return to the airlock, open the heat shield, and Bowen will fly over to meet him. The two will work together to securely store the RF group hardware in the lock.
After reinstalling the layers of insulation blankets on the struts (the posts used for support), Bowen will remove the foot restraints from the robotic arms and put them back in place. He would then go to starboard and pick up his and AlNeyadi’s safety tether. AlNeyadi will store three crew lock bags and return them one by one to the airlock for access to extravehicular activities or spacewalks.
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