NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Expedition 18 Prepares For Tuesday Spacewalk

Image above: The Expedition 18 crew members pose between a Russian Orlan spacesuit and an American spacesuit. Credit: NASA

Commander Mike Fincke and Flight Engineer Yury Lonchakov checked equipment and procedures in advance of Tuesday’s planned spacewalk. The primary objective of the six-hour spacewalk consists of installing EXPOSE-R, a European experiment that exposes seeds and spores to the space environment.

The spacewalkers prepared cameras and hardware and checked for leaks in their Russian Orlan spacesuits. Fincke and Lonchakov also reviewed airlock and valve equalization procedures they will use in the Pirs docking compartment. They also will put on their spacesuits Sunday to perform a fit check and to test suit functionality and communications capability.

Tuesday’s spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 12:20 p.m. EDT. NASA Television coverage begins at noon.

Flight Engineer Sandra Magnus checked the U.S. spacesuits and scrubbed their cooling loops in anticipation of the four spacewalks planned when STS-119 visits the International Space Station. Mission managers have approved STS-119 for launch March 11 at 9:20 p.m.

› Read more about Expedition 18
› View crew timelines

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2009 International Space Station Calendar

As part of NASA's celebration of the 10th anniversary of the International Space Station, the agency is offering a special 2009 calendar to teachers, as well as the general public.

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