NASA announced about the successful completion of a spacewalk carried out by two Russian cosmonauts present at the International Space Station. During the spacewalk, they complete tasks like cleaning the station’s windows, putting up a new antenna and completing a detailed photographic survey of the ISS exterior.

The spacewalk was carried out on Monday by Expedition 44 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Mikhail Kornienko for 5 hours and 31 minutes. NASA said the cosmonauts also installed, “devices called gap spanners on the hull of the station that will facilitate the movement of crew members on future spacewalks”.

It was the ninth spacewalk of Padalka, 57, and the second one for Kornienko, 55. Russia's Oleg Kononenko, NASA astronauts Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren and Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency were present inside the craft and were actively monitoring the walk.

The cosmonauts threw an old antenna in the void of space where it will become a temporary part of the ever increasing amount of space junk. Experts said that the antenna would not be orbiting for long and will re-enter earth’s atmosphere and burn up in a few weeks.

NASA said that astronauts and cosmonauts carry out spacewalks occasionally outside the ISS in order to carry out tasks like fixing things, carrying out new experiments and to perform general maintenance on the $100 billion orbiting laboratory. As per NASA, it was the 188th spacewalk in the station’s support.