SPACE.com will carry NASA TV's live feed of Monday's planned spacewalk beginning at 4:30 a.m. EDT.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Spacewalking cosmonauts will help kick off a new era of Japanese research at the International Space Station Monday amid what could turn out to be a Kodak moment high above Earth.

With the 17-story station soaring some 250 miles (400 kilometers) above the planet, Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Turin might set up two Eastman Kodak Co. placards on the outer hull of the outpost's Russian-built crew quarters.

The anticipated orbital advertising opportunity would take place during a spacewalk primarily aimed at mounting three suitcase-sized Japanese science experiments on handrail brackets located on the so-called Zvezda, or star, module.

Housed inside the cases: gels and foams designed to capture tiny pieces of space debris and micrometeoroids as well as dozens of samples of paints, lubricants, insulation and other materials being tested for possible use on future spacecraft.

"The experiment package itself is attached to those brackets and then unfolded to expose the materials samples inside to the vacuum of space," said Glenda Laws, a lead engineer in NASA's spacewalk projects office at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Dressed in Russian spacesuits, Dezhurov and Turin plan to venture outside the station's newly installed Russian airlock -- dubbed Pirs, or pier -- about 5:15 a.m. EDT (0915 GMT) Monday, setting out on their second spacewalk in as many weeks.

The two cosmonauts installed a telescoping Russian cargo boom, handrails, a ladder and other gear outside the Pirs module during a four-hour, 58-minute spacewalk last Monday.

With the six-foot (1.8-meter) ladder serving as a bridge between Pirs and the Russian-built crew quarters, Dezhurov and Turin will make their way to a set of attachment points about midway down the outer hull of the Zvezda module.

There, the cosmonauts will mount and open the three science suitcases, which were launched to the station aboard a Russian Progress cargo carrier along with a Japanese high definition television camera.

The launch was arranged as part of a March 1999 contract signed between the Russian and Japanese space agencies. The intent: To enable Japanese researchers to carry out experiments as precursors to research that will be conducted at the Japanese Kibo laboratory once it is delivered to the station in 2004.

The pact calls for the science experiments -- which were designed and developed at a cost of about $1 million USD (120 million yen) -- to remain outside the station for one to three years.

One of the cases is to be brought back to Earth in October 2002, and the others will be returned in October 2003 and October 2004, respectively. All of them will be carted back by visiting Soyuz taxi crews.

The high definition TV camera is to be used as part of Japanese Space Agency medical experiments and public relations activities.

Some 500 minutes of footage is to be shot as part of the medical tests, which are aimed at preparing Japanese flight surgeons to oversee the health of astronauts from that Asian nation during the course of the outpost's anticipated 15-year design life.

Another 1,100 minutes of publicity footage will be shot, including images of the station during assembly and day-to-day life within the station's Russian crew quarters.