Two cosmonauts took a spacewalk outside the International Space Station on February 2 to tackle a long-awaited upgrade to the communications system on the Russian side of the orbiting laboratory. They also set a new record for the longest Russian spacewalk, after spending 8 hours and 13 minutes working outside the station.
Clad in their Russian Orlan spacesuits, Expedition 54 Cmdr. Alexander Misurkin and flight engineer Anton Shkaplerov opened the hatch of the Pirs airlock at 10:35 a.m. EST (1535 GMT), officially marking the start of their spacewalk. APP