Two Space Station Spacewalks To Be Broadcast On NASA TV

WASHINGTON, Aug. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Astronauts and cosmonauts will perform two spacewalks outside the International Space Station this month. NASA Television will broadcast both events live. Coverage of the first will begin at 10 a.m. EDT, Monday, Aug. 20. Coverage of the second will begin at 7 a.m., Thursday, Aug. 30.

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The first spacewalk, scheduled to begin at 10:40 a.m., Aug. 20, will feature Expedition 32 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency in Russian Orlan spacesuits. They will float outside the Pirs docking compartment airlock for a 6 1/2 hour spacewalk to relocate a cargo boom from Pirs to the Zarya module, complete the installation of micrometeoroid debris shields on the Zvezda service module and deploy a small science satellite.

The second spacewalk, scheduled to begin at 8:15 a.m., Aug. 30, will feature NASA Flight Engineer Sunita Williams and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Flight Engineer Akihiko Hoshide. The duo will don U.S. extravehicular mobility unit spacesuits for the first U.S.-based spacewalk since July 2011. It will be a 6 1/2 hour excursion designed to replace a faulty power relay unit on the station's truss, rig power cables for the arrival late next year of a Russian laboratory module, and install a thermal cover on a docking port.

The spacewalks will be the 163rd and 164th in support of space station assembly and maintenance. Padalka has conducted eight previous spacewalks and will wear a suit bearing red stripes. Malenchenko has conducted four spacewalks and will wear blue stripes. For the U.S. spacewalk, Williams will wear a suit with red stripes for the fifth spacewalk in her career. Hoshide, wearing a suit with no stripes, will be conducting his first spacewalk. He is the third Japanese astronaut in history to conduct a spacewalk.

International news media planning to cover the U.S. spacewalk in-person at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston must apply for accreditation by contacting the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 by 6 p.m., Aug. 21. U.S. media also may begin their application process at this time. International accreditation for the first spacewalk has closed.

For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information about the International Space Station and its crew, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

SOURCE NASA