During a training session aboard the International Space Station, Russian cosmonauts Sergei Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin tested a new safety scheme designed for work outside the station in open space. The exercises included practicing standard operations and simulating possible emergency situations on the outer surface of the Russian segment of the ISS.
The traditional safety system involved the use of two lanyards: a short one (approximately 1 meter) and a spring-loaded lanyard of variable length, capable of extending up to 3 meters. Under the new method, both lanyards now have a variable length, which significantly increases the mobility of cosmonauts when moving around the station's hull.
According to cosmonaut Sergei Prokopyev, a similar configuration was already used during two previous spacewalks by the crew consisting of Sergei Ryzhikov and Alexei Zubritsky. According to him, the cosmonauts positively assessed the effectiveness of the new system. In addition, specialists practiced this scheme in advance in a hydrolab, and during the current training session, both the classic and updated safety configurations were used to compare their functionality in various scenarios.