Cosmonauts Kononenko and Chub launched a satellite with a solar sail from the ISS

Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub launched the Parus-MSTU student satellite during a spacewalk as part of an experiment to study motion using solar sails.

The broadcast was conducted on the Roscosmos website. The satellite was launched using a special launching device. After launch, the astronauts will watch as the satellite’s solar sail unfolds. By changing the length of the sail bombarded by solar charged particles, you can adjust the thrust and thereby change the satellite’s orbit. The launch device was also developed by MSTU students.

Earlier it was reported that cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub went into outer space and turned off the radiator-heat exchanger circuits of the multi-purpose laboratory module “Nauka”. Next, Kononenko and Chub will have to install a small-sized radar for observing the Earth’s surface on the Nauka MLM. If they have time, the cosmonauts will also replace the retaining boards on the Zvezda module that hold the cables together.