Russian, US astronauts begin spacewalk

The crew of the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday started a spacewalk on an installation and maintenance mission, the mission control center said.

Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka and US astronaut Michael Fincke have opened the hatches on the Pirs module and stepped out of the station for a six-hour spacewalk, during which they will conduct a series of maintenance tasks, Interfax reported.

The crew will fix laser deflectors on the external of the module Zvezda and the docking target for the first European cargo spacecraft of the ATV series -- Jules Verne, which is scheduled tobe launched in October 2005, Itar-Tass cited mission control spokesman Valery Lyndin as saying.

Padalka and Fincke will also replace the Russian scientific equipment Platan and Kromka for the study of galactic cosmic rays and monitoring of the contamination of the engines on the station.

The crew made a spacewalk in early July on a repair mission. Their first attempt in late June suspended shortly after they stepped out of the orbiting station because of a defect in Fincke's space suit.

Source: Xinhua