ISS team completes spacewalk
Nasa astronauts repair damaged solar array
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Saturday, 03, Nov 2007 08:22
Astronauts on the International Space Station have successfully completed a risky spacewalk to repair damaged components.
Nasa mission specialists Scott Parazynski and Doug Wheelock, whose STS-120 Discovery shuttle is docked at the station, were able to fix a torn solar array after four hours of work.
"Shortly after the spacewalk began, MS Parazynski rode the station's robotic arm up to the damaged area of the array," a Nasa statement explained.
The Discovery astronaut had been secured in a foot restraint at the end of the Orbiter Boom Sensor System – a specially designed extension to the shuttle's robot arm used to inspect the ISS' thermal protection system.
"After reaching the area of the damage, MS Parazynski went to work installing the cufflinks that were built by the crew," Nasa said.
"Once the five cufflinks were in place, the crew inside then deployed the array half a bay at a time until the array was fully deployed."
The mission was fraught with dangers as the solar array, which is used to generate electricity for the orbiter, was charged. The astronauts' suits were insulated to prevent them from suffering a shock during work that could lead to injury.
The original fault developed while the wing, containing the array, was opened on Tuesday.
Today's successful repairs will enable the deployment of the wing which is needed for future projects on the space station.