Jun 13 2007
From The Space Library
U.S. astronauts Patrick G. Forrester and Steven R. Swanson undertook a 7-hour-and-16-minute spacewalk to assist with the retraction of a 115-foot-long (35-meter-long) solar panel that crew had installed on the ISS seven years before. The retraction was essential to the successful activation of the new solar power module because the old solar array was preventing the pair of arrays on the new module from rotating as they tracked the Sun. Shuttle Commander Frederick W. Sturckow and the ISS crew attempted to initiate the retraction using remote commands, but the panel failed to fold correctly. During the spacewalk, Forrester and Swanson rode on the tip of the ISS’s robotic arm to the top of the space station, carrying tools that enabled them to smooth the array folds and to straighten obstructing wire guides. Although, after 2 hours, the panel had only retracted partially, Forrester and Swanson returned to the new power module to work on the 2,500-pound (1,134-kilogram) solar alpha rotary joint (SARJ). The astronauts planned to resume their efforts to retract the panel the following day. Because another Shuttle crew had encountered difficulties retracting an array in December 2006, Forrester and Swanson had trained extensively before their mission, learning to address problems with the solar-array retraction.
John Johnson Jr., “Spacewalkers Face Workaday Glitches,” Los Angeles Times, 14 June 2007; Mark Carreau, “Solar Panel Keeps Shuttle Spacewalkers Busy,” Houston Chronicle, 14 June 2007; Robyn Shelton, “Astronauts Tame Stubborn Solar Array,” Orlando Sentinel (FL), 14 June 2007.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
