Moscow/Washington- A Russian cosmonaut and US astronaut on Friday began the first spacewalk aboard the International Space Station since the crew doubled to six. During the planned five-and-a-half-hour spacewalk, Russian ISS commander Gennady Padalka and US flight engineer Mike Barratt were preparing the Zvezda service module transfer compartment for the addition of another module where Russian spacecraft can dock.
They were installing a docking antenna and taking photos of a Russian crane used during spacewalks. Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata was helping from inside the ISS.
The spacewalk is the first of two planned by the Russians for June.
Last week, a Soyuz spacecraft docked with the ISS, bringing three additional crew member to the station. The expansion of the crew to six after 10 years of ISS construction will allow crew members to triple the amount of time they devote to experiments on board.
The full occupancy of the ISS marks the first time since its founding in 1998 that the five partners - Russia, the US, Europe, Canada and Japan - were represented at the same time.
