Spacewalk to work on ISS scheduled

STAR CITY, Russia, June 23 (UPI) -- Russian, American and Japanese astronauts are scheduled to conduct a space walk on the International Space Station, cosmonaut Yury Malanchenko said.

The space walk will take place in August and will include installing additional anti-meteorite panels on the ISS, RIA Novosti reported Friday.

"We will have a space walk in August, which I will conduct together with [Russian cosmonaut] Gennady Padalka," Malanchenko said from Star City near Moscow, where Russian cosmonauts live and train.

He said the space mission, which is scheduled to depart July 15, will include American Sunita Williams and Japan's Hoshide Akihiko.

"We will have to move a cargo platform so as to use it more conveniently in the future. We will also install meteorite protection panels" on the ISS, he said.

The panels are used to protect the ISS from small objects and space debris.