Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev and Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti have returned to the International Space Station after a successful seven-hour spacewalk.
According to the US space agency NASA, they completed “all but one of the most important objectives” during the walk. Shortly before midnight (Dutch time) the two were back in the space station.
The main aim was to move a robot arm and launch ten nanosatellites. They are designed to collect radio electronics data. The duo also needed to install a telescopic arm that could help astronauts on subsequent spacewalks, but that task is now being completed “during a future spacewalk,” according to NASA.