The spacewalk according to the Russian program was successfully completed by the cosmonauts of Roscosmos Oleg Kononenko and Sergey Prokopiev.

The main task of VKD-45A mission was to survey the outer surface of the International Space Station and the living compartment of the “Soyuz MS-09” spacecraft.

The exit hatch of the “Pirs” docking compartment was opened at 6:59 pm (Moscow time) on December 11 and closed by the cosmonauts, who returned to the station at 02:44 (Moscow time) on December 12.

The total duration of the stay of the crew of the Russian segment of the International Space Station outside its borders was 7 hours and 45 minutes.

When opening the screen-vacuum insulation and micro-meteoric protective panel on the outer surface of the living compartment of the “Soyuz MS-09” spacecraft, a small hole was found, that does not pose any danger to the crew of the ISS.

It will also not threaten the safety of the crew of the ship, when it returns to Earth on December 20.

The hole is in the living compartment, which is separated from the descent vehicle shortly after disconnection with the ISS, and then burns in the Earth’s atmosphere.

Sergei Prokopiev, Alexander Gerst and Serena Aunon-Chancellor will be in the descent vehicle all this time.