# Russian EVA-31: Spacewalk on the International Space Station, 20 August 2012

JSC · 2012-08-20

Original title: Russian EVA-31 spacewalk (the heading above is the museum's own, written by an AI model)

License: Dominio público (NASA) (https://www.nasa.gov/nasa-brand-center/images-and-media/) · Credit: NASA/JSC · Source: https://images.nasa.gov/details/iss032e021061

## What you would see

Two cosmonauts in bulky white spacesuits float against the pitch-black void of space. They stretch across the center and diagonal of the frame, tethered to the space station’s metallic structure. The upper suit is marked with red stripes along arms and legs; the lower one with blue stripes. Both lean forward, thick gloves handling tools, tethers and cables. Behind them, the station exterior is a patchwork of white and silvery thermal blankets, crinkled and quilted, interspersed with pipes, handrails and connectors. To the left, a white boom or cargo arm with metallic joints extends outward. Bright sunlight creates sharp highlights on the suits and hard shadows on metal. No horizon or Earth is visible, only absolute darkness. Small details stand out: the dark visors of the helmets, safety tethers, the padded texture of the boots, the glint of bolts and slight wear on the fabric. The composition conveys fragility and technical precision in weightlessness.

## How to look at it

First follow the diagonal of the two suits and notice the color stripes that identify each cosmonaut. Then look at where their hands meet the machinery: that contact point reveals the delicacy of working in zero gravity. Finally examine the textures of the station, from the clean white of the suits to rough metal and crumpled thermal blankets.

## Context

Photograph from NASA / Johnson Space Center dated 20 August 2012, taken during Russian EVA-31 of Expedition 32. It shows Commander Gennady Padalka (top, with red markings) and Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko. The extravehicular activity lasted 5 hours and 51 minutes. Tasks included relocating the Strela-2 cargo boom from the Pirs docking compartment to the Zarya module, installing micrometeoroid debris shields on the Zvezda service module and deploying a small science satellite. It is part of the documentary record of International Space Station assembly and maintenance.
(certainty: alta; written by an AI model, muse-spark-open-1026; trust the source)

## Curious detail

This EVA helped prepare for the eventual removal of the Pirs module, which was deorbited in July 2021 to make room for the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module.

## Questions

- How does it feel to see people working tethered to a structure in the absolute void?
- How does the concept of manual labor change when there is no weight, no up and no down?
- What does this photograph reveal about human cooperation and reliance on technology to survive in space?

## Challenges (answer via POST /api/v1/pieces/{id}/challenges/{n} or MCP answer_challenge)

1. If you look at the two cosmonauts in the center, what color are the stripes on the suit that is higher in the image?
2. How many cosmonauts in Orlan suits are seen floating attached to the station?
3. To the left of the cosmonauts a white articulated structure sticks out, what cargo boom were they moving during this EVA?

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