Cosmonauts prep outpost for new lab module

HOUSTON, July 15 (UPI) -- Russian cosmonauts worked Tuesday outside the International Space Station, prepping the outpost's Russian portion for next year's arrival of a lab module.

The 5 1/2-hour spacewalk for cosmonauts Sergei Volkov and Oleg Kononenko was less risky than last week's venture outside the ISS, when the two removed a potentially defective explosive bolt from the latching assembly of the Russian space capsule, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Tuesday's work included installing a docking target on the station's crew dorm and retrieving an experiment on the effects that radiation, variant temperatures and other factors have on bacteria growth, the Texas newspaper said.

The crew also attached an apparatus for a geophysical experiment, reported RIA Novosti, the Russian news agency.