International Space Station Repaired During Spacewalk

[Maikeru]

An astronaut on a daring spacewalk yesterday repaired a damaged solar array on the International Space Station.
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NASA

Dr. Scott E. Parazynski on the spacewalk, during which electrical hazards were a concern.

Dr. Scott E. Parazynski works along the International Space Station’s truss assembly as he prepares equipment for mounting during his solar array repair mission.

Dr. Scott E. Parazynski, a former emergency room physician, mended wounds on the wing, which developed two tears while being deployed Tuesday.

If the procedure had not been successful, the array, on the left side of the station, might have had to be discarded. The loss of a solar array would have reduced the ability to produce power, possibly constraining future construction on the station.

Mission managers knew that wires had become snagged and had torn the array during deployment. But they did not know the nature of the snag. They had hoped that repairs would be a simple matter of moving a wire off a hinge.

Dr. Parazynski, riding on an extension of the station’s robotic arm to reach the damaged array, said his view of the repair site revealed a “hairball” of wire, with guide wire for the array caught in another wire running through the hinge connecting the panels.

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I doubt this is what the crew of space shuttle Discovery wanted to do, but someone has to do it...