This week, two Russian astronauts set a new world record for the longest spacewalk, lasting over eight hours outside the International Space Station (ISS)
This week, two Russian astronauts set a new world record for the longest spacewalk, lasting over eight hours outside the International Space Station (ISS).
But in the process, the astronauts managed to leave a critical antenna facing the wrong way.
Astronauts Alexander Misurkin and Anton Shkaplerov ventured out of the ISS on Friday to replace an electronics box to upgrade an antenna used for communications with Russia’s Mission Control.
The pair spent 8 hours and 13 minutes replacing the box – surpassing the previous longest spacewalk by six minutes.
But despite spending so long out there, the astronauts managed to leave the antenna in the wrong position, 180 degrees out from where it was meant to be.
Thankfully, Nasa ’s Mission Control reported that the antenna was still working.
Following the spacewalk, the astronauts asked flight controllers whether the antenna was operating, “or have we just wasted our time?”
Spacewalker Alexander Misurkin jettisoned, or tossed, an old electronics box removed from the station into space. It will eventually re-enter Earth's atmosphere and burn up. https://t.co/yuOTrZ4Jut pic.twitter.com/pWFkcKQeOa
— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) February 2, 2018
The response was: “It’s being evaluated.”
After removing the old electronics box from the antenna, Misurkin hurled it into space – thankfully in a direction that won’t intersect with the space station.
The electronics box will burn up as it re-enters the atmosphere.
Russian space officials are convening a special team to see if further action is needed to realign the antenna.
