Iss Crew to Launch Satellite During Spacewalk

MOSCOW. March 23 (Interfax) – The crew of the International Space Station (ISS) will put in orbit an experimental nanosatellite during a planned spacewalk on March 28, the Russian mission control center said.

“It’s an experimental nanosatellite [weighing] 5 kilograms and oblong in shape. It has been designed at the Space Instrument Manufacture Research Institute,” center spokesman Valery Lyndin told Interfax.

The astronauts will simply “throw” the satellite when they get out of the ISS, Lyndin said. “They are to launch it in the direction opposite to that of the movement of the ISS with an acceleration of 1 meter per second. The space vehicle will stay in orbit for about 100 days,” he said.

It is hoped the satellite will be used as the basis for designing miniature space vehicles to be used for various purposes.