Russian cosmonauts install X-ray detector, jettison trash on spacewalk outside ISS

A spacesuited cosmonaut standing on a platform at the end of a robotic arm outside the International Space Station releases a bundle of trash into the blackness of space.

A Russian cosmonaut took a short ride at the end of a robotic arm to jettison spent equipment that he and a crewmate collected during a spacewalk outside the International Space Station today (Dec. 19).

Expedition 72 flight engineer Alexey Ovchinin secured his feet at one end of the European Robotic Arm (ERA) toward the end of his and Ivan Vagner's seven-hour extravehicular activity (EVA) today. Fellow Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexsandr Gorbunov controlled the 37-foot-long (11.3 meters) arm's movement from inside the space station.