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While the Russian space agency’s chief Dmitry Rogozin is threatening to end cooperation aboard the International Space Station (ISS), two Russian cosmonauts will step out of the laboratory
to activate a robotic arm. Russian cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev will step out of their hatch on April 18 and again on April 28 for the job, NASA revealed. The activation
process will be executed under spacewalks 52 and 53, each of which would last for about seven hours. According to NASA, the Russian cosmonauts will venture outside the ISS to activate the
robotic arm which is attached to the Nauka module. Both Artemyev and Matveev would step out of their Poisk module on the station’s Russian segment at 7:55 pm (IST) for each of the
spacewalks. "During the first spacewalk, the cosmonauts will install and connect a control panel for the European robotic arm, a 37-foot-long manipulator system mounted to the recently
arrived Nauka multipurpose laboratory module. They will also remove protective covers from the arm and install handrails on Nauka. The arm will be used to move spacewalkers and payloads
around the Russian segment of the station", NASA said in a statement. During the second spacewalk, which is scheduled for April 28, the cosmonauts would remove thermal blankets which
covered the arm for protection during its July 2021 launch with Nauka. "They will also flex the arm’s joints, release launch restraints, and monitor the arm’s ability to use two grapple
fixtures", NASA added. Interestingly, the forthcoming mission will be Mateev's first of his career whereas it would be the fourth of Artemyev’s career. Besides, the duo will
participate in the fourth spacewalk of 2022 and the 249th overall spacewalk conducted for assembly, maintenance, and upgrades. It is worth noting, that the forthcoming installation mission
by Russia follows threats from Moscow to end cooperation aboard the space station. NASA would air the spacewalks on its official website and social media handles on the aforementioned dates.
The live coverage would begin at 7:30 pm (IST) and the cosmonauts would exit their module at 7;55 pm (IST) both on April 18 and April 28.