Going into outer space is one of the riskiest and most amazing things you can do during a space flight.
Imagine yourself taking the risk of being dressed in a black spacesuit and separated from nothing by just a few layers of material and a complex life support system. Then imagine the same picture as one day of work!
It is surprising that astronauts and astronauts managed to perform 193 spacewalks on the ISS since 1998. Here are just a few impressive shots of the latest spacewalks presented on the magnificent Flickr album from Johnson Space Center, NASA.
Floating, flying or falling?
The 46th Scott Kelly Expedition (the most famous one-year space mission), completed on December 21, 2015.
In this photo you can see how a bulky spacesuit can bring inconvenience when you are trying to achieve something on a space station. It can be said that these gloves, which Scott Kelly wears, in this situation resemble an attempt to work in hockey gloves. In addition, the spacesuit's lower body is also very tough, because astronauts do not need to walk in it.
However, this version of the spacesuit was used by astronauts for many decades and served well for work on the shuttle and the International Space Station. Future versions of spacesuits are likely to include greater mobility for surface operations, for example, on the Moon or Mars.
Careful documentation
Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov uses a camera on an external space station during a spacewalk in 2014.
Time on the space station is so valuable that astronauts, as a rule, plan their increments 5 minutes ahead while working on something. Spacewalk is an extreme option, because it's not so easy to follow the plan outside. So the procedures are practiced again and again until they become a habit.
When an astronaut or astronaut is in outer space, he or she should also let the mission control center know how things are going. This is often achieved with a video camera on the outside of the suit. But these images can also be sent home after returning to the station.
Extreme Conditions
Reed Wiseman's 41st expedition during spacewalks in order to move a failed cooling pump to another location.
Space suits should protect astronauts and astronauts in bright sunlight and the dark shadow of the Earth. Crew members outside should also be able to see what they are doing, so they sometimes use lamps to be productive even when working in the dark.
Their work seems easy, but it is not. The earliest spacewalks in the 1960s showed that astronauts and astronauts need leashes, handrails and pivot points that hold them while they are busy with something.
Helping Hand
The 41st expedition of Alexander Gerst during a spacewalk with Canadarm-2 in the background.
Immediately behind Gerst here in the lower left corner, you can see a huge robotic arm. This is a very flexible device - Canadarm-2. It can seize a cargo spacecraft, raise an astronaut and heavy equipment. A person handling this robotic arm must know the rules of proper contact in order to perform various tasks. Canadarm-2 shows how well-trained astronauts and astronauts must be to qualify for missions in a space station. They not only have to fly to the Soyuz spacecraft, speak Russian and perform standard space station operations, but they also need to know how to fix the mechanisms and work with fancy equipment.
Fighting distraction
Russian cosmonaut Sergey Ryazansky on the background of the Earth during a spacewalk in 2013.
You think it’s hard to work without checking your mobile phone. What about the whole planet in the background? Astronauts spend a lot of time in preparatory pools and weightlessness in order to get used to other situations.
Your selfie on Instagram doesn’t compare with this
The 45th Chielli Lindgren Expedition during a spacewalk to maintain the ISS ammonia system.
Of course, the pictures are exciting. But astronauts are always on the alert. They check their gloves for damage. When working with hazardous systems such as ammonia, it must be remembered that they also have potentially harmful crystals that settle on the spacesuit.
