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Russian ISS Spacewalk Installs Plasma Injector on Nauka, Yields First Space-Grown Semiconductor Crystals

The IPI-500 experiment will fire measured plasma pulses to gauge ionospheric responses to electric-thruster activity.

Overview

  • Cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Aleksei Zubritskiy completed their second EVA of the mission, finishing in 6 hours 54 minutes.
  • The crew mounted the IPI-500 hardware on the Nauka module, completing the primary task of the spacewalk.
  • Roskosmos reported that ideal crystal structures were grown in open space for the first time, and the cosmonauts retrieved the first crystals from the Ekran-M apparatus.
  • Secondary tasks included cleaning a Nauka window, replacing the Ekran-M cassette and batteries, and relocating the ERA manipulator’s external EMMI control panel.
  • Developed by the Moscow Aviation Institute with a control block from NPO IT and delivered by a Progress cargo ship, IPI-500 will support studies of human-induced effects on the ionosphere.