Spacewalks are a routine endeavor on the ISS, but usually involve two Americans or Europeans, an American and a European, or two Russians working together. The last time a European astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut left the ISS together wearing Russian-made Orlan spacesuits was in April 1999, according to NASA. (An American and a Russian also did a joint spacewalk in 2009.) Thursday’s spacewalk is Cristoforetti’s first and Artemyev’s sixth. Their joint venture comes as tensions on Earth between Russia and the United States and their allies have reached a fever pitch amid the war in Ukraine, although NASA has repeatedly said the conflict has not affected cooperation in space. This marks the third spacewalk by ISS astronauts to work on the installation of the European Robotic Arm, which will be able to move objects in and out of the space station for maintenance and even inspect the exterior of the space station using built-in cameras. The arm – which will be the third robotic limb attached to the ISS and the only one capable of reaching the Russian-controlled part of the space station – is placed on the outside of the Russian space station’s new module, called Nauka. Artemyev and Cristoforetti began their spacewalk on Thursday, deploying “ten nanosatellites designed to collect radio electronics data.” Since the space station is already traveling at orbital speeds, deploying satellites is as easy as throwing them in one direction or another. The spacewalk is the sixth to take place on the ISS so far in 2022 and the 251st overall. Astronauts regularly leave the station to maintain its exterior, install new hardware, or conduct science experiments. ESA is broadcasting the spacewalk live on ESA Web TV on Thursday. Viewers can spot Cristoforetti by the blue stripes on her spacesuit, while Artemyev wears red stripes.
