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21 JANUARY 2011 Dmitri Kondratiyev & Oleg Skripochka (ISS Expedition 26) Duration 5 hr 23 min Objectives on this EVA were to complete the installation of a new high-speed data transmission system, remove an old plasma pulse experiment, install a camera for the new Rassvet docking module and retrieve a materials exposure package. A previous attempt to install the camera in November (by Skripochka and Aleksandr Yurchikhin) had been unsuccessful because of the thermal insulation next to its mounting bracket, so the cosmonauts used a special cutter to rip the threads on some of the insulation material to expose it. Once the camera was installed, they mated the camera’s cable to a pre-wired connector that would route the video into the station. Before the EVA began, ISS Commander Scott Kelly and Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri boarded their Soyuz TMA-01M spacecraft, which was docked to the Poisk module on the opposite side of Zvezda from the airlock, and sealed the hatches between Zvezda and Poisk. This protected against the unlikely possibility of a sudden station depressurisation and also meant that the forward portion of Zvezda could be used as a backup airlock if necessary. The remaining Expedition 26 crew members, Cady Coleman and Paolo Nespoli, were in the US segment of the station and had access to their Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft, which was docked to the Rassvet module adjacent to Pirs on the Zarya module; therefore there was no need for such a precaution. Kondratiyev's first EVA; Skripochka's second.

20 JANUARY 2020 Jessica Meir & Christina Koch (ISS Expedition 61) Duration 6 hr 58 min Third all-female EVA. The astronauts completed the task of replacing the old nickel-hydrogen batteries with lithium-ion ones. The outmoded batteries were stored on an external platform until they can be disposed of aboard a Japanese cargo freighter due to visit the station later this year. The USA was observing Martin Luther King Day and at the end of the EVA the astronauts paid tribute to him. Meir said he was a personal hero and looking down on planet Earth reminded her of his words: “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.” Koch noted how much is owed to those who worked for civil rights and inclusion and “paved the way for not only us, but so many who have a dream.” This was Meir's third EVA and Koch's sixth. Koch has no further EVAs scheduled before she returns to Earth: her total time is 42 hr 15 min.

Ninety today!

19 JANUARY No EVAs on this date Please note: I'm on jury service this week so depending on how things pan out I might not be able to post the daily updates until the evening. As it turns out there are no historic EVAs for tomorrow (20 January) but there is a new one scheduled so that will be posted once it's complete.

18 JANUARY No EVAs on this date

This will be of interest! Just sent for it... Scale Modelling: Real Space

17 JANUARY 1993 Greg Harbaugh & Mario Runco (STS-54) Duration: 4 hr 28 min The EVA started late because preparations took longer than expected but eventually the astronauts began rehearsing techniques for on-orbit assembly. They tested moving large objects around the payload bay by carrying each other and used a large tool to manually position the tilt table from which a TDRS comsat had been launched earlier in the mission. They also placed each other in the bracket which held the space-suit in the airlock, testing their ability to align bulky equipment accurately. Despite the late start, the EVA had to be terminated at the planned time because of the schedule of the Diffuse X-ray Spectrometer. After landing, the astronauts repeated their tasks in the WETF water tank to see how they compared with their activities in genuine microgravity. First EVA for Harbaugh; only EVA for Runco. 1996 Leroy Chiao & Winston Scott (STS-72) Duration 6 hr 54 min When the EVA began, Scott mounted a foot restraint and stood still while Endeavour rolled round to take the payload bay out of direct sunlight. This was to chill the bay so that the heating system in the space-suit gloves could be tested. Scott was aware of the low temperature, but did not find it uncomfortable. He later said that if he had been busy and moving around, he would have been even warmer. Once this experiment was complete, the astronauts tested cable trays and clamps that would be used on the ISS. They also rocked back and forth on the foot restraints to determine the level of stress likely to be placed on the ISS structure during assembly and maintenance tasks. Chiao's second EVA; Scott's first.

16 JANUARY 1969 Yevgeni Khrunov & Aleksei Yeliseyev (Soyuz 5 --> 4) Duration 37 min When Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 carried out the first docking between two manned spacecraft, the Soviets described it as "the world's first experimental cosmic station with four compartments for the crew". This was something of an overstatement as this version of the Soyuz did not even have an internal transfer tunnel, so Khrunov and Yeliseyev had to perform an EVA to cross between the two spacecraft. This was only the second Soviet EVA, though it was the first involving two men. The cosmonauts sealed themselves in the Orbital Module of Soyuz 5 and depressurised it, then emerged into space. The suits had been designed using feedback from Alexei Leonov and were not subject to the ballooning that he had encountered. The life-support system was located on the chest and abdomen. Khrunov transferred to Soyuz 4 first, while the docked craft were over South America, out of radio contact with Mission Control, but they were back in touch by the time Yeliseyev crossed over. The cosmonauts entered the Soyuz 4 Orbital Module and closed the external hatch; it was then repressurised and they joined Vladimir Shatalov and presented him with newspapers reporting his own launch as proof that the transfer had taken place. This was the only EVA for both cosmonauts.

15 JANUARY 1996 Leroy Chiao & Daniel Barry (STS-72) Duration 6 hr 9 min The primary objective was to test equipment that would be used in ISS assembly tasks. Using a foot restraint on the end of the manipulator arm, the astronauts first attached a rigid umbilical diagonally across the Orbiter payload bay: these will carry fluid and electrical lines between the modules and truss of the station. They also tested a Portable Work Platform built by Lockheed Martin, which included toolboards and tether sockets. First EVA for both astronauts 2003 Ken Bowersox & Don Pettit (ISS Expedition 6) Duration 6 hr 51 min This EVA was originally scheduled for 12 December and would have been carried out by Bowersox and Nikolai Budarin, who would have been the first Russian cosmonaut to use an American space-suit. However though Russian doctors declared him qualified for the EVA, their US counterparts decided that he was physically unfit to use the US suit and Quest airlock, for reasons unknown. Therefore Pettit replaced him and the EVA was postponed. When it finally took place the astronauts had difficulty opening the outer airlock hatch but finally emerged to begin their work programme, which included releasing ten launch restraints from the radiator system on the P1 Truss so that Mission Control could remotely unfold it to its full length of 22 metres and removing grit from the docking mechanism of the Unity module. However a jammed pin meant they were unable to install a stanchion and light fixture to an equipment cart. First EVA for both astronauts. 2016 Tim Kopra & Tim Peake (ISS Expedition 46) Duration 4 hr 43 min The main objective was to replace a failed voltage regulator which had caused a loss of power to one of the station's eight power channels. This was accomplished but the EVA then had to be curtailed when Kopra reported water leakage in his helmet. A similar but much more serious incident occurred on an EVA in 2013 when Luca Parmitano experienced a major water leak. Kopra was in no danger this time but Mission Control ordered an immediate termination of the EVA. This was Kopra's third EVA and Peake's first and only one (to date). 2020 Jessica Meir & Christina Koch (ISS Expedition 61) Duration 7 hr 29 min The second all-female EVA. The astronauts carried out further work in replacing the older nickel-hydrogen batteries with newer, more powerful lithium-ion batteries for the power channel on one pair of the station’s solar arrays. Meir's second EVA and Koch's fifth.

14 JANUARY 1998 Anatoli Solovyov & David Wolf (Mir Expedition 24) Duration 3 hr 52 min Third joint US/Russian EVA. The team carried a hand-held device called the Space Portable Spectroreflectormeter (SPSM) to measure the absorption proficiences of solar equipment, mirrors and other external surfaces. Solovyov also carried out additional repairs to the Kvant 2 hatch. This was Solovyov's sixteenth and last EVA (a record). His total time was 79 hr 51 min (also a record). It was Wolf's first EVA. 2002 Yuri Onufriyenko & Carl Walz (ISS Expedition 4) Duration 6 hr 3 min Completed the installation of the Strela 2 cargo crane. They used the already functional Strela 1 to transfer the new crane from its stowed location next to the Unity and Zarya tunnel and attached it to the Pirs Module. They also mounted the first of four amateur communications antennae on Zvezda. Onufriyenko's seventh EVA; Walz's second. 2010 Maxim Surayev & Oleg Kotov (ISS Expedition 22) Duration 5 hr 44 min The cosmonauts worked on the Russian-built Mini-Research Module 2, known as Poisk (Search), which had been delivered by a modified Progress propulsion module the previous November, which had then separated to expose the docking hatch. The cosmonauts installed Kurs navigation antennae, cables and a docking target, and also fitted handrails to assist in future EVA work. Finally they retrieved the Biorisk experiment canister from the exterior of the station. Surayev's first EVA; Kotov's third.

13 JANUARY 2017 Robert Kimbrough & Thomas Pesquet (ISS Expedition 50) Duration 5 hr 58 min The astronauts installed three new adapter plates and hooked up electrical connections for three of the six new lithium-ion batteries which would replace the nickel-hydrogen ones then in use. The new batteries were smaller than the old ones but still provided an improved power capacity. They also stowed padded shields outside the station to make room inside the airlock and took photographs of various items of external hardware for use in planning future spacewalks. This was Kimbrough's fourth EVA and Pesquet's first.

12 JANUARY No EVAs on this date

To Part 3 I would add: When piling up your stock, remember to put the most desirable items at the bottom so they're easier to see. Prospective buyers don't appreciate having to stand on tiptoe to read the details on the box.

11 JANUARY 1990 Aleksandr Viktorenko & Aleksandr Serebrov (Mir Expedition 5) Duration 2 hr 54 min The cosmonauts retrieved some French exposure experiments from the exterior of the station and replaced them with new ones. They then returned to the depressurised transfer compartment at the forward end of Mir and transferred the docking drogue from the +Y port, where Kvant 2 was docked, to the -Y port opposite in preparation for the arrival of the Kristall module. This was the last use of the Orlan-DMA space-suits with power supplied through an umbilical, and also the last time the transfer compartment would be used as an airlock until 1995. Second EVA for both men.