SPACE STATION, April 29. /TASS/. Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Artemeyev, who is also a TASS special reporter in orbit, and Denis Matveyev have completed their mission’s second spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS), according to a live broadcast on the Roscosmos website.
"Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Artemeyev and Denis Matveyev have completed their spacewalk under the Russian program," the Russian space agency said on its Telegram channel.
Artemyev and Matveyev began their spacewalk on Thursday, April 28 at 17:58 Moscow time and spent 7 hours 42 minutes in the open space fulfilling a number of tasks, including an inspection of the operational work of the ERA robotic arm.
Artemyev, who conducted the fifth spacewalk in his career as a cosmonaut, worked in Orlan-ISS spacesuit No. 5 with red stripes, while Matveyev conducted extravehicular activity for the second time, wearing the spacesuit with blue stripes.
Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Korsakov provided his teammates support from inside the orbital outpost, operating the ERA (European Robotic Arm) manipulator.
During the spacewalk, Artemyev and Matveyev have also unfolded a replica of the Victory Banner on the external side of Russia’s Nauka multi-purpose laboratory module.
The Victory Banner was the flag raised by the Soviet Red Army soldiers on the Reichstag building in Berlin on May 1, 1945. It was raised by Soviet soldiers Alexey Berest, Mikhail Yegorov and Melitin Kantariya and is considered to be the official symbol of the victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany in the World War II. The original banner is on a display at the Central Armed Forces Museum in Moscow.
Roscosmos spokesman Dmitry Strugovets said the idea to unfold a replica of the Victory Banner in the open space belongs to Artemyev.
"Cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev voiced an idea several days ago to spread the Victory Banner in the open space and wrote about it to the Roscosmos press office," Strugovets said on his Telegram channel. "His initiative was supported at all levels. No one remained indifferent."
Overall, during the current space mission of cosmonauts Artemeyev, Matveyev and Korsakov, seven spacewalks are planned. Cosmonaut Artemyev will conduct one of the spacewalks with Italy’s Samantha Cristoforetti and the rest with Matveyev. While no extravehicular activity is planned for Korsakov, he is ready for this work. He was also trained to operate the ERA manipulator.
On November 17, 2021, Russia’s world-renowned TASS news agency and the State Space Corporation Roscosmos signed a memorandum of cooperation, under which a TASS news office was established aboard the ISS. Presently, cosmonaut Artemyev is heading the outer space-based branch. Cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin was the first TASS special reporter in space. His flight lasted 12 days.