I could have sworn I read / heard that thing about a solar array being added this mission...
Maybe they were talking about "activating" the array..
That alone will be worth the price of admission, seeing those huge wings rotating....
Exactly, I'm sure that's what they meant.
"That alone will be worth the price of admission, seeing those huge wings rotating...."
In the ISS assembly sequence, they eventually move the P6 solar arrays currently above the ISS down to the end of the port truss beside the soon to be rotating arrays. Then they add the same number of solar arrays on the other end of the long power truss on the starboard side. Everything on port and starboard will be rotating all at the same time. It will be an absolutely amazing sight when visitors approach the station from orbit.
The ISS with all the solar arrays rotating like two giant paddle wheels in space reminds me of the space station in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey (see below). Maybe the ISS designers had that in the back of their minds when they developed the concept.
With all that solar array area, the ISS will be one of the brightest objects in the night sky. I believe only the Moon will be brighter when viewed from Earth.