International Space station updates solar power
Houston, Texas, June 13, 2007
Source: Associated Press /IndyStar
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070613/NATIONWORLD/706130454/
The international space station’s newest power source, a set of solar wings, made its debut Tuesday. The solar array is part of a 17.5-ton segment that was connected to the orbiting outpost during a spacewalk Monday.
The solar wings were deployed one at a time, first halfway unfurled and allowed to warm in the sun about 30 minutes. This prevented the solar panels from sticking together.
The orange-and-black panels were unfolded like an accordion window blind.
Each solar wing is 115 feet long and weighs more than 2,400 pounds. This is the station’s third pair of solar panels. Today, an older solar array will be folded up into a box so it can be moved during a later shuttle mission. The mission’s second spacewalk also is scheduled to finish activating the new segment today.
The shuttle Atlantis astronauts’ 11-day mission was extended Monday by two days to allow time to fix the thermal blanket near the spacecraft’s tail that peeled during launch last week.