Russian Cosmonauts Conduct Spacewalk To Upgrade International Space Station Equipment

Two Russians cosmonauts left the International Space Station earlier today to embark on a six hour spacewalk. Their goal is to update the orbiting lab portion of the station with a few new pieces of equipment.

The pair of cosmonauts, Pavel Vinogradov and Roman Romanenko, donned their Orlan spacesuits and began the walk at around 10 AM EDT, aiming to install a space weather experiment on the hull of the station. The Russian experiment is called "Obstanovka," and will measure how charged particles interact with a number of substances kept outside of the ISS. Scientists hope that Obstanovka will allow them to better understand how space weather effects the ionosphere.

Vinogradov and Romanenko will also retrieve a Biorisk cannister, a previous experiment that measured the effects of bacteria and fungus on spacecraft materials. This was part of a larger experiment called Vinoslivost, which sought to test a number of material exposure scenarios.

Additionally, they're looking to prepare the ISS for the arrival of a robotic cargo ship a little later this year. The duo will be attempting to replace a faulty retro-reflector device that will help guide the European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle 4, an unmanned cargo ship called "Albert Einstein."

This spacewalk will be the seventh for Vinogradov, and the first for Romanenko.

"All this is hard work," Roman Romanenko said of the spacewalk in a NASA interview in December. " I'm supposed to collect information from other experiments that were installed outside the station."

The two are part of the six-man Expedition 35 crew currently staffing the International Space Station. The rest of the team includes group leader and Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, and NASA astronauts Thomas Marshburn and Chris Cassidy.

This is the 167th spacewalk for the construction and upkeep of the International Space Station. If you're interested, you can watch the spacewalk live on Space.com via NASA TV.