Today, two astronauts will be conducting a fairly standard spacewalk on the outside of the International Space Station, but the pair of spacewalkers is a bit unusual. The duo consists of cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev of Russia\u2019s Roscosmos and Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency, spacefarers from two countries that do not typically conduct spacewalks together.<\/p>\n

The timing of the spacewalk comes amid strained relations between Russia and the European Union over the former\u2019s decision to invade Ukraine. The invasion hasn\u2019t had a significant impact on operations on the ISS, as NASA, the European Space Agency, and Roscosmos have continued to work together \u2014 in space and on Earth \u2014 to keep the space station running.<\/p>\n