Performing maintenance around the house doesn't have to be boring, you know. You just need to find a way of making your chores enjoyable. Of course, it probably helps if you can work outside. And floating 400 kilometres above the planet? Well, that definitely wouldn't hurt either.
The Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, shared the above footage this week of two cosmonauts doing some upkeep on the International Space Station (ISS) during a 5-hour spacewalk.
The hardware maintenance they're busying themselves with isn't particularly remarkable, it has to be said, but the setting is absolutely breathtaking, with a luminous blue Earth providing a stunning backdrop to the drudgery of high-tech housework.
Also worth noting is how the footage shows up close the cosmonauts' tethers and clasps, with which the spacewalkers keep themselves attached to the ISS and one another. It might seem like a little thing, but if they were to come loose of their bindings in a microgravity environment, well, there literally might be no stopping them. If you've seen Gravity, you'll have some idea what we're talking about.
This particular spacewalk took place over a month ago on August 10. One of the cosmonauts in the video is Gennady Padalka, who just this week broke the record for spending more days in space than any other human being. Padalka returned to Earth from this week with an incredible record of having spent 878 days in space over five missions.
The spacewalk featured in the video – the tenth such he performed while aboard the ISS – may well be his last, unless he makes good on his intention to return for space and try to improve on his already epic achievement by cracking 1,000 days in space.
Of course, with the glory comes a degree of risk: all that time spent outside Earth's protective magnetosphere means Padalka may have been exposed to dangerous levels of cosmic radiation, which in time could lead to a range of adverse health effects.
But what better way to celebrate Padalka's already awesome contributions to space exploration than by joining him on his most recent spacewalk via the magic of YouTube? Just remember – don't look down.