NASA: Spacewalk set to fix faulty solar panel (STS-116)

AP on Yahoo ^ | 12/18/06 | Rasha Madkour - ap

[Frank_Discussion]

Spoke too soon - Beamer's going at it with the scraper, I think.

[Frank_Discussion]

Christer just gave the array a "french" shake, then a "swedish" shake. It seems to help. LOL.

[2Jedismom]

I went to the liquor store to get my cholesterol medicine the other night and the guy behind the counter was listening to the shuttle!

I'm trying to get it to load...dialup, dontcha know...

[Frank_Discussion]

I just got DSL, I'lll never look back.

[2Jedismom]

My house is 35 years old...I'm afraid they'll come in and laugh at my phone line wiring...

[Frank_Discussion]

"I went to the liquor store to get my cholesterol medicine..."

Cabernet or Pinot Noir? ;)

[Frank_Discussion]

Risk it. DSL rocks, hard.

[2Jedismom]

Cabernet!

Are they fixin' to try to retract another? This thing keeps buffering...

[Frank_Discussion]

Down to about 7 bays now. More snagging to work.

[NormsRevenge]

In this image from NASA Television, a loose guide wire is seen on the right through the helmet camera of space shuttle mission specialists Robert Curbeam during a space walk as he works on the stuck solar wing on the international space station, Monday, Dec. 18, 2006. (AP Photo/NASA TV)

[NormsRevenge]

Astronaut Robert Curbeam uses a tool as he tries to repair a jammed solar energy array during a spacewalk outside the international space station in this image from television, Monday, Dec. 18, 2006. (AP Photo/NASA TV)

[2Jedismom]

I am currently enjoying mere coffee from my 1985 Discovery mug that is apparently a kind of curio or keepsake and I got it at a thrift store for 29 cents. It has everyone's signatures on it! (Not their real signatures...just part of the mug.)

Crew:
Karol J. Bobko, Commander
Donald E. Williams, Pilot
M. Rhea Seddon, Mission Specialist
S. David Griggs, Mission Specialist
Jeffrey A. Hoffman, Mission Specialist
Charles D. Walker, Payload Specialist
U.S. Senator E.J. Garn, Payload Specialist

[Frank_Discussion]

J E A L O U S !!

[RightWhale]

spaceflightnow.com
2230 GMT (5:30 p.m. EST)

Now three-and-a-half hours into the EVA. The start-and-stop retractions continue. The spacewalkers are having to clear snags that occur after virtually every slight folding action.

2206 GMT (5:06 p.m. EST)

As retraction resumed, one blanket started to bow out and the other appears to have a wire snag again.

---

Astronauts are notoriously patient.

[NormsRevenge]

new strategy,, will attempt to clean up the gaps in the folds of the panel , try to even it out as much as possible,, may be just what the doctor ordered.

[2Jedismom]

Heh! I have no idea why this mug would be in a Tulsa Oklahoma thrift store, other than maybe someone visited NASA back then and bought it as a souvenier.

This is what's on it...plus the signatures...

The mug itself is "Made in England" and still has the sticky stuff where the original sticker was, and I left the 29 cent sticker on there from the thrift store. It isn't chipped or scratched at all and I only rarely drink out of it.

Probably isn't worth a dime, but I get a big kick out of it.

[Frank_Discussion]

That's dang cool!

BTW: We're at 6.25 bays to go, officially. C'mon Beamer and Christer, pen that puppy!

[Frank_Discussion]

Mission control is streamlining the feedback between ground and ev's to cut down on talking time.

[Frank_Discussion]

Pressure's on. Nail-biting time.

[Frank_Discussion]

Just got one full bay without an abort! Going for two! Beamer's been smoothing the blanket, he may have found the solution. Buy that fella a cold one when he gets back, folks!