Article Posted on : - Aug 22, 2012

Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko work outside the station during the first spacewalk of the Expedition 32 mission. A NASA TV photo

WASHINGTON (BNS): Two International Space Station (ISS) crew members have completed the first spacewalk of the Expedition 32 mission.

Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Yury Malenchenko began their spacewalk at 1537 hours GMT on August 20.

During the five-hour, 51-minute excursion, the duo moved the Strela-2 cargo boom from the Pirs docking compartment to the Zarya module of the orbital outpost.

The move was a step in preparing the Pirs for its eventual undocking and disposal, which will make room for the docking of a new Russian multipurpose laboratory module to the Zvezda nadir port, NASA said.

The two spacewalkers also successfully installed a shield to protect the Zvezda service module from micro-meteorites and space debris. They also deployed a small science satellite, the space agency said.

The spacewalk was the ninth for Padalka and the fifth for Malenchenko.

The second spacewalk of the Expedition will be undertaken by NASA's Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams and Japan's Akihiko Hoshide on August 30.

The six-and-half-hour excursion will involve replacing a faulty power relay unit on the space station's truss, rig power cables for the arrival late next year of a Russian laboratory module, replace a failing robotic arm camera and installing a thermal cover on a docking port.