Two Russian members of the International Space Station crew are conducting a spacewalk.

Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov needed to conduct technical works before the arrival of a new Russian module.

The duo needs to prepare for the undocking and disposal of the Pirs docking compartment, which will be replaced later this year by the new Nauka (Science) multipurpose laboratory module.

They need to replace a fluid flow regulator and also have to replace biological and material science samples on the exterior of the Russian modules.

Wednesday's spacewalk is expected to last about six-and-a-half hours.

It’s the first spacewalk for both Novitsky and Dubrov, who arrived at the space station in April.