On Tuesday, October 3, the Expedition 70 crew's main tasks aboard the International Space Station (ISS) were spacewalk preparation and sports equipment maintenance. Listening tests and various science and hardware tasks completed the day's program for the crew in orbit. Three astronauts are gearing up for two planned spacewalks this month to conduct scientific research and maintenance. The mission's two spacewalks planned for October 12 and 20 will be broadcast live on NASA TV, the NASA app and website.


Astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, assisted by astronaut Tracy C. Dyson, prepares for spacewalk training in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at Johnson Space Center. Image credit: NASA/Josh Valcarcel

During the first spacewalk, European Space Agency (ESA) Commander Andreas Mogensen and NASA Flight Engineer Loral O'Hara will swab the exterior surface of the space station for microorganisms. They will use specialized tools to carefully collect microbial samples from specific areas of the space station. The samples will then be analyzed to determine the types of microorganisms that might survive in the vacuum of space. This will be the first spacewalk for both astronauts.


ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen. Image source: ESA

The second spacewalk will see O'Hara depart again, but this time with NASA flight engineer Jasmin Moghbeli, who will conduct her first spacewalk. During the six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk, the pair will remove faulty radio communications equipment and install new solar array hardware.

Mogberg tried on the spacesuit Tuesday afternoon and tested its ability to communicate with mission controllers on the ground. Mogensen and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa assisted Mogberg in Discovery's airlock to ensure her spacesuit was operational.

Furukawa and O'Hara started the day's work in the Destiny experimental module, replacing the orbiting laboratory's motion cycle. The pair spent the morning uninstalling the workout hardware, updating components, installing new circuits, and firing up the new cardio and cardiovascular equipment.

At the end of the day, O'Hara took turns conducting hearing tests with Roscosmos flight engineers Nikolai Chub and Oleg Kononenko. Chubb had earlier installed various cameras to monitor Earth's upper atmosphere and accurately predict the space station's position in space. Kononenko and cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov will spend much of the day servicing various Russian space agency hardware. The two work throughout the orbiting laboratory, repairing electronics, communications equipment and life support equipment.