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Astronauts to attempt repair of broken ISS solar array |
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Written by Derek Kessler on
Wednesday, 31 October 2007
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 NASA has decided to yet again rearrange the Discovery's spacewalk schedule. This time they are scrapping the planned inspection of the damaged rotary joint on another of the International Space Station's solar array to repair the solar array that suffered a two foot tear during deployment yesterday. Even though the wing is generating plenty of power in spite the damage, engineers are concerned about the structural integrity of the array, which is exposed to extreme temperature shifts as it orbits the Earth.
The fix will help to divert stress away from the tear. Astronaut Scott Parazynski will perform the repair, riding out on the shuttle's 50 foot long arm extension - attached to the ISS's own Canadarm2 robotic arm, by attaching rings to holes built into the array for storage to to the supporting superstructure of the solar array. This will route the tension that is required to keep the flexible panel taught (a lesson learned from the Hubble Space Telescope) away from the rip, hopefully preventing any further damage.
The repair work will be complicated by the fact that Parazynski will not want to touch the array itself. It is about the thickness of a vinyl shower curtain, and while tougher and more rigid, can potentially be damaged even more by undue pressure. Also, the solar array is the power generation station for the ISS, and as such, there is a lot of electricity running through it. Touching could be bad.
Parazynski is an experienced spacewalker, and that will work to his advantage. In the past he has performed six EVAs for nearly 40 hours. Doug Wheelcock will join Paraznski outside Discovery, helping to reel in the guide wire that originally snared the solar array and caused the tear. New ISS resident Daniel Tani, who was brought up by Discovery, will operate the station's robotic arm, which with the shuttle extender will reach out 107 feet.
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