Expedition 10 Readies for First Spacewalk

Spacewalk preparations continued to command the attention of the Expedition
10 crew on Thursday aboard the International Space Station.

Commander Leroy Chiao and Flight Engineer Salizhan Sharipov’s 5.5-hour
excursion is scheduled for Jan. 26, beginning about 1:25 a.m. CST (0725
GMT). It has been extended by one hour to give the spacewalkers time to
photograph some external elements of the Station. This will be the first of
two spacewalks scheduled for Expedition 10.

Thursday’s preparations included activation and inspection of the Russian
Orlan spacesuits they will use. Chiao and Sharipov also charged a second set
of Orlan batteries, installed helmet lights and tested pressure equalization
valve components between the Zvezda Service Module and the Pirs Docking
Compartment. The spacewalk will be based out of Pirs.