In this image from NASA Television, ISS flight engineer Sunita Williams works with the shuttle robotic arm during a space walk to reconfigure the electrical wiring on the international space station, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2006. (AP Photo/NASA TV)
Posted on 12/16/2006 4:10:31 PM PST by NormsRevenge
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA approved conducting a fourth, unplanned spacewalk if astronauts were unable to get a stubborn solar array to fold up into a box properly Saturday.
The extra spacewalk, if carried out on Monday, would delay space shuttle Discovery's landing at the Kennedy Space Center by a day to Friday, and push back other activities such as undocking and a late inspection of the shuttle's heat shield.
NASA managers made the decision as U.S. astronauts Robert Curbeam and Sunita "Suni" Williams were midway into a six-hour spacewalk. It was Curbeam's third spacewalk in a week and Williams' first ever.
Before heading out of the space station, Mission Control instructed Williams to have fun. "It's going to be a blast!" she said.
Williams joined an elite group of eight other female spacewalkers. Only seven other U.S. women and a single Russian woman have participated in the 281 spacewalks taken since 1965.
"Welcome to the club, Suni," Curbeam told her.
About half of the lights, a fire alarm, some ventilation ducts and some communication on the U.S. section of the space station were powered down as a safety precaution to the spacewalking electricians who unhooked and plugged back in connecting hoses to half of the lab's electrical system. The astronauts reconnected the space station's electrical system to a permanent power source from a temporary one.
Less than two hours into the spacewalk, the rewired electrical system was powered back up, and Mission Control reported that it was operating without problems.
"It's great to have some good, on orbit electricians working for us," said astronaut Stephen Robinson in Mission Control.
NASA had to race to get the space station's ammonia cooling system operating before the equipment overheated. The ammonia flowed without trouble, earning a sigh of relief from Curbeam.
"Excellent. That is awesome news," said Curbeam, whose spacesuit was inadvertently contaminated by a leaking coolant line during a similar spacewalk in 2001.
The spacewalk tasks were almost repeats of those done Thursday by Curbeam and Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang, who finished their spacewalk an hour ahead of schedule. If Curbeam and Williams worked as quickly, NASA planned to have them inspect the halfway retracted solar wing, and possibly pat the box in which it's folding up in an attempt to loosen wire tension.
The obstinate array has refused to fold properly despite repeated attempts by remote control since last Wednesday.
Other spacewalk tasks included rewiring power feeds to the Russian side of the space station and relocating protective panels which stacked together are known as "the Christmas tree."
The half-retracted solar wing was part of the space station's temporary power system. A primary goal of Discovery's visit to the station was to rewire the lab and hook a new set of solar wings delivered in September onto the permanent electricity grid. To do that, NASA needed to retract the old solar panel so that the new ones had room to rotate with the movement of the sun to maximize the amount of electricity generated.
The old solar panel retracted enough to give the new ones clearance, but it did not fold all the way as NASA wanted.
NASA can keep the array in its current position until April, leaving open the possibility that the next shuttle crew in March or even the current station crew could fix the problem during a spacewalk. In a worst-case scenario, the array could be jettisoned.
Space shuttle Discovery's astronauts were heading into the home stretch of their 12-day mission, which includes seven days at the space station. Discovery delivered a 2-ton, $11-million space station addition which was installed during the first spacewalk and planned to rotate out a station crew member upon undocking Monday.
In this image from NASA Television, ISS flight engineer Sunita Williams works with the shuttle robotic arm during a space walk to reconfigure the electrical wiring on the international space station, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2006. (AP Photo/NASA TV)
On the Net:
NASA: http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov
US space shuttle Discovery US Mission Specialist Robert Curbeam works on the S0 truss of the International Space Station at the beginning of the third planned spacewalk. Discovery astronauts began a space walk to finish rewiring the International Space Station, a delicate and complex task that has dominated the 12-day mission.(AFP/NASA)
They are actually heading up to the array right now to take a look at it.
My children and I just watched the shuttle cross the night sky over north Georgia. It happened at about 6:26, it lasted a few minutes and it was soooo cool! How bright and fast it was! Great memory.
Thanks!
hopefully , they can get it done right now,,
Thanks for the sighting report,, it is supposedly going to be visible for a couple days to some folks here in the states. we're cloudy and getting ready to rain out here
Although a strong aurora was predicted for here in Fairbanks last night, none was sighted. Any sightings farther south?
Was watching spacewalk on NASA channel. One of the astronauts dropped their camera. Before she noticed, it was gone, even though it was only 10-20 feet away. Scary. Wonder how much that camera was worth? Looked pretty expensive.
Probably top of the line and modified for EVA use. $100,000 would be the minimum.
Have been watching........ Sure wish our cable offered the NASA channel thought.........
Not that I am aware of , I'll see if I see any good new pics on the net,, , weather has messed up visibility out ehre plus I turn in at night and forget to get up and look. :-)
grommet #12 must die. :-D
they are shaking the heck out of the array. gonna regroup and they may have to hang it up as sunset is approaching
Thanks! Beautiful stuff!
lots of aurora images here
http://spaceweather.com/aurora/gallery_01dec06_page3.htm
In this handout image from NASA Television, space shuttle mission specialist Robert Curbeam, left, and flight engineer Sunita Williams work to free a solar panel during a space walk on the international space station, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2006. The solar panel malfunctioned earlier in the mission. (AP Photo/NASA TV)
15 miles north of Lincoln, Nebraska
Scottsbluff, Nebraska, USA
Saylorville Lake north of Des Moines, IA
Having spent most of my life in OH and IN I have had the occasion over my life to see an Aurora; but what I would give to see it like that!
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