MOSCOW, May 12. /TASS/. Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin who is also a TASS special reporter in space opened the exit hatch of the Poisk module on the International Space Station (ISS) to embark on their third spacewalk this year, according to a live broadcast available on the Roscosmos website on Friday.

During their extravehicular activity, the Russian cosmonauts will unfold and integrate the thermal regulation radiator on the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module. The cosmonauts are expected to spend six hours and 18 minutes outside the orbital outpost.

The spacewalk will be the sixth for Prokopyev in his space career who will wear Orlan-ISS spacesuit No. 5 with red stripes and the fourth for Petelin who will work in Orlan-ISS spacesuit No. 4 with blue stripes.

The ISS Russian crew conducted their two previous spacewalks on the morning of April 19 and overnight to May 4. During the former spacewalk, the cosmonauts moved and installed the radiator on the Nauka science module. During the latter spacewalk, the Russian crew installed an airlock on the Nauka research lab to enable the crew to conduct experiments without exiting the orbital outpost.

As Petelin said, after the radiator is deployed, the Nauka science module will be "practically ready for its functional work."