The Russians will conduct a spacewalk to activate a robotic arm

Russian cosmonauts Oleg Artemiev and Denis Matveev began their nearly seven-hour spacewalk at 11:01 a.m. ET and finished at 5:37 p.m. ET, which lasted six hours and 37 minutes.

This was the first of two space trips that Artemiev and Matveev conducted to set up the mechanism outside of Russia’s multi-purpose Science module.

During Monday’s spacewalk, the duo installed and connected a 37-foot (11.3-meter) robotic arm control panel. They also removed the protective covers on the arm and installed railings outside the Science module.

This robotic arm will be used to assist spacewalkers and to transport any items that need to be moved outside the Russian segment of the space station in the future.

Artemiev was identified in the Russian spacesuit Orlan with red stripes, while Matveev wore a spacesuit with blue stripes.

This was the first spacewalk for Matveev and the fourth for veteran Artemiev.

This was the fourth spacewalk out of space this year and the 249th overall to support the assembly, maintenance and modernization of the orbital laboratory.

During a second spacewalk on April 28, the pair of astronauts will remove the thermal blankets used to protect the robotic arm when it was launched last year with the Nauka module. Matveev and Artemiev will also bend the joints of the robotic arm, release the restraints and test its grip.

These are the first of the upcoming space walks, which will focus on preparing Nauka and the robotic arm for future use.

Asked how geopolitical tensions with Russia have affected the life of the space station, NASA astronaut Dr. Tom Marshburn told a news conference on Friday that it was “a collegial, very friendly relationship up here and we work together.”

The NASA crew and Russian astronauts regularly share food and watch movies together, he said.

“We rely on each other for our survival,” Marshburn said. “It’s a dangerous environment. And that’s why we just keep learning; we understand that we are all up here with the same goal: to explore and maintain this space station is maintained. ”