Russia is building for the future, not just maintaining the past
In the early hours of a January morning in 2022, two Russian cosmonauts stepped outside the International Space Station and spent more than seven hours preparing a new docking port for the arrivals yet to come. Their work on the Prichal module — installing handrails, antennas, and docking targets — was quiet and methodical, the kind of labor that makes future presence possible. It was also a statement: that amid the uncertainties of geopolitics and the passage of time, Russia intends to remain a partner in humanity's shared outpost above the Earth, at least through the decade's end.
- The Prichal module, newly attached to the station just months prior, sat unfinished — without the hardware needed to safely guide crewed Soyuz spacecraft to its berth.
- Cosmonauts Shkaplerov and Dubrov suited up for the first spacewalk of 2022, carrying a detailed checklist and more than seven hours of vacuum-exposed work ahead of them.
- Mission Control in Houston tracked their progress in real time, confirming the crew stayed on schedule with no emergencies — a rare and welcome steadiness in high-stakes operations.
- Two planned handrails were deferred to a future spacewalk, a small but deliberate adjustment that kept the mission clean and the crew safe.
- With Prichal now outfitted, a crewed Soyuz mission is targeted for March — and further spacewalks to activate Nauka's airlock and deploy a robotic arm are already on the horizon.
On a January morning in 2022, Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov opened the ISS hatch and stepped into the void. Their destination was the Prichal module — a docking port launched and attached to the Russian segment of the station just two months prior — and their task was to make it ready for the crewed spacecraft that would soon need to find their way there.
Over seven hours and eleven minutes, the two cosmonauts installed handrails for future spacewalkers, mounted antennas, and fixed docking targets to guide incoming Soyuz vehicles to their berth. Mission Control in Houston reported steady progress throughout. Two additional handrails were deferred to a later outing — a measured decision, not a setback — and when the pair returned inside, the first spacewalk of 2022 was cleanly complete.
For Shkaplerov, it was his third time outside a spacecraft. For Dubrov, his fourth. Both understood that their work carried weight beyond the technical. Prichal sits attached to the Nauka multipurpose laboratory, which arrived the previous summer, and together the two modules represent a substantial Russian commitment to the station's future. Russia has pledged to remain an ISS partner through 2030, and that pledge is written not just in policy documents but in hardware — in modules launched, in cosmonauts trained, in handrails bolted to the exterior of an orbiting laboratory.
The first crewed mission to dock at Prichal is scheduled for March. More spacewalks lie ahead to activate Nauka's airlock and deploy a European robotic arm. What Shkaplerov and Dubrov accomplished that morning was foundational — the quiet, essential work of making it possible for others to arrive.
On a January morning in 2022, two Russian cosmonauts opened the hatch of the International Space Station and stepped into the void. Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov had a job to do: outfit a new docking module so that crewed spacecraft could safely arrive in the months ahead. They would spend more than seven hours in the vacuum, moving methodically through a checklist that had been months in the planning.
The spacewalk began just after 7 a.m. Eastern time. Shkaplerov and Dubrov made their way to the Prichal module, a relatively new addition to the station that had been launched and attached in November. This module would serve a specific purpose in the Russian segment of the orbiting laboratory—it was designed as a port where Soyuz spacecraft carrying cosmonauts could dock. The work they were doing that day was foundational. They installed handrails so future spacewalkers could move safely across the module's exterior. They mounted antennas and docking targets, the visual and electronic markers that would guide incoming spacecraft to their berth.
Three hours into the work, Mission Control in Houston reported that the crew was keeping pace with the timeline. There were no surprises, no emergencies—just the steady progression of a well-rehearsed operation. The cosmonauts had planned to install two additional handrails, but they made the decision to stow those pieces instead, deferring the work to a future spacewalk. Seven hours and eleven minutes after they exited, they returned inside. The first spacewalk of 2022 was complete.
For Shkaplerov, this was his third venture outside a spacecraft. For Dubrov, it was his fourth. Both men had trained for this moment, and both understood what their work represented. The Prichal module sat attached to the Nauka multipurpose laboratory, which had arrived at the station the previous summer. Together, these represented a significant Russian investment in the International Space Station—an investment that carried meaning beyond the technical specifications of docking ports and handrails.
Russia had committed to remaining a partner in the space station through 2030, the year when the orbiting laboratory is expected to reach the end of its operational life. That commitment was visible in hardware: in the modules being launched, in the cosmonauts being trained, in the spacewalks being planned. The first crewed mission to dock at Prichal was scheduled for March, carrying three cosmonauts. More spacewalks lay ahead—work to activate the Nauka module's airlock, to deploy a European robotic arm, to prepare the station for the next phase of its existence.
What Shkaplerov and Dubrov had done that morning was lay groundwork. They had made it possible for others to arrive. They had signaled, in the language of hardware and human effort, that Russia intended to stay.
Notable Quotes
The crew is stepping through its timeline— Mission Control, Houston
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does it matter that Russia is committing to 2030? The station has been up there for twenty years already.
Because the station's future was uncertain. There were questions about whether Russia would stay, whether the partnership would hold. This hardware—these modules, these spacewalks—is Russia saying yes, we're in.
And the Prichal module specifically—what's the difference between that and the other docking ports?
It's Russian-dedicated. It's where Russian Soyuz spacecraft dock. Before this, there were other ports, but Prichal is new infrastructure. It's saying we're building for the future, not just maintaining the past.
The spacewalk itself—seven hours is a long time in a vacuum suit. What's the physical reality of that?
It's exhausting. You're in a pressurized suit, managing your oxygen, your temperature, your movements. Every task takes longer than it would on Earth. But the cosmonauts were on schedule. No emergencies. That's what you want to hear.
They didn't install all the handrails. Why defer that work?
Sometimes you make judgment calls in real time. They got the critical pieces done—the antennas, the docking targets, the main handrails. The other two could wait. It's about prioritizing what matters most.
What happens next?
More spacewalks. They'll activate the airlock on Nauka, deploy a robotic arm. The station is still being built, still being prepared. This was just one step.