Preparations for the 72nd long-term expedition to the ISS are ongoing. Now members of the main crew and their backup are undergoing a cycle of training in the hydrolaboratory, in which cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Wagner on 28 June practiced elements of extravehicular activity.

The water environment helps cosmonauts to achieve maximum approximation to the conditions of weightlessness. All the participants of the flights at one time in the process of training received the qualification of a diver.

Today Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Wagner had a combined training, during which they practised several typical tasks to be performed during the spacewalk: opening and closing the hatch, moving and working on the outer surface of the station.

The cosmonauts paid special attention to transporting an inoperable operator to the airlock. In addition, they performed some target operations, one could say, “rehearsed” the spacewalk programme to be performed during the real work outside the ISS during the planned flight. Such extravehicular activities involve scientific experiments, so cosmonauts practise installation and repair and work with the equipment necessary for research.

Alexey Ovchinin has experience in spacewalking, so he can compare the conditions created in the hydrolab with what happens in airless space.

– Of course, there are differences, because the earth’s gravity has not gone anywhere, and in space, it does not exist, but the conditions of hydro weightlessness bring us as close as possible to this state and it helps us a lot in our work. Besides, during the dive we move on to the exact model of the station, which makes orientation easier. That is, you understand in which direction you need to move, where to return, where and what you can leave or fix, so water training is vital for us, – said the cosmonaut.

With the participation of instructors, divers, and doctors Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Wagner performed all the typical and target tasks that were set during the training  and showed a good level of cooperation in the hydro environment. Next week the cosmonauts will have two more dives. Now Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Wagner are being trained as the main crew of the 72nd long-term expedition to the ISS, which is scheduled in September 2024.