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Two astronauts on a trip to space began to prepare for the International space station (ISS) for new solar panels on Sunday (February 28), struggling with tough bolts to kick off a major power upgrade for the in-orbit lab.
Expedition 64 Flight Engineers Kate rubins and Victor glover – the two NASA astronauts – spent more than seven hours working outside the station during the spacewalk to install modification kits for the new solar panels. They worked on the port side of the station to install a bracket and support struts on two mast canisters at the base of the outpost’s current solar wings, but were only able to install one of the full kits. by assembling a second and storing it for later.
“They have completed the construction of the upper support material and secured it to the outer structure of the space station until the work can be completed during the next spacewalk on Friday, March 5,” said NASA officials said in an update.
Related: Space Walk Astronauts Complete Space Station Battery Upgrade
The ISS, parts of which have been in orbit since 1998, is preparing for new solar panels. NASA says the oldest set of panels have been operating continuously since December 2000 and are still doing well despite their advertised 15-year lifespan. (The other pairs were delivered in September 2006, June 2007 and March 2009.) But the arrays don’t generate as much energy as they used to, hence a series of spacewalks starting now.
The new panels will be smaller than the old ones due to advances in solar technology. They will be installed to deploy in front of the current six bays, allowing the new facilities to use the infrastructure already in place for the existing set, according to NASA. Boeing (the prime contractor for space station operations) will supply the arrays, with the help of its subsidiary Spectrolab and a major supplier, Deployable Space Systems.
The goal of the space walkers was to install new grid support structures at the station’s 4B and 2B using a solar panel modification kit and several tools, which came in a huge bag. approximately 8 feet (2.5 meters) long and 1 foot (0.3 m) wide. and deep. Rubins and Glover carried the solar panel kit and spacers for their work to the right edge of the station, using a special “slingshot” device to use the crew’s safety ties away from the ISS core.
“Unfortunately, this mod kit is very bulky and it does not fit in its current state,” said spacewalk officer Art Thomason in a report. press conference Wednesday, February 24). “So we have to take it apart, kind of like putting furniture together.”
Thomason noted that the mass of the equipment is around 330 pounds. (150 kilograms), and the crew members will need to be careful as they bring everything to the ends of the space station, where the solar panels are located.
“Even though we don’t have gravity to deal with in space, we still have inertia and mass. The crew knows we have to be careful of that,” he said. “While they translate [moving] over there they’re going to take it slow and make sure that when they turn the corners, and things like that, they help guide the bag because it’s a bigger thing than they’re used to.
Related: International Space Station at 20: a photo tour
The crew hoped to install two sets of spacers at two yards near the solar panels, Thomason said. At each site, they had to use a portable footrest and tethers to anchor in place, before installing a left leg, a right leg, and a middle leg. The astronauts planned to attach thermal blankets to each of the struts. Rubins also wore a new high-definition video camera on his spacesuit, a first for spacewalks in the United States, to provide clearer views.
In practice, however, the Glover and Rubins fell behind after one of the bolts on the first strut failed to fully engage at the start.
“One of the bolts did not fully engage on the first attempt, so Rubins used an electric drill to pull it out and put it back in place, then used a ratchet to tighten the bolt, achieving a configuration safe, “NASA officials wrote in the update. . “The lock will likely need to be further secured before installing any of the new solar panels that will be delivered to the space station later this year aboard SpaceX’s 22nd Commercial Resupply Services Mission.
The astronauts then succeeded in assembling the upper support of the second set of arrays and then secured it to their shipyard so that it could be installed during an upcoming spacewalk on March 5.
Rubins and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi will venture outside the station on this upcoming excursion, which is expected to complete the work started on today’s spacewalk. It will also include a set of maintenance tasks: removing the ammonia, removing and replacing a wireless video transceiver assembly, and installing a “stiffener” on the Quest airlock thermal cover to prevent bleeding. cover to blow during spacewalks (when residual space station air escapes into space.) For this excursion, Rubins will be EV 1 and Noguchi EV 2.
Solar panels naturally degrade over time and the new array of panels will increase the station’s current power levels by 20% to 30%, bringing the ISS back to roughly what was available when the orbiting laboratory was operated. built decades ago, NASA said in a statement. (Batteries are also a power factor of the station, especially for storage capacities; space walking crews spent about four years upgrading old batteries to newer, more efficient versions, finally finished this job in january.)
The eight solar panels currently in place provide approximately 160 kilowatts of energy; half is stored when the station is in orbital darkness, which happens about 15 times a day. Once the new solar panels are in place over the old ones, adding the new array power to what’s left of the old panels should provide up to 215 kilowatts of power, depending on factors such as whether the station is exposed to the sun or darkness, NASA said. .
“The solar panels will be delivered to the International Space Station in pairs in the unpressurized trunk of the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft during three resupply missions starting in 2021, when the second pair of current panels reach the 15th year of their life. design life “, Addition of NASA in the statement. “The installation of each solar panel will require two spacewalks: one to prepare the job site with a modification kit and another to install the new solar panel.”
The 4B solar panel has an interesting history. In 2007, space station and space shuttle astronauts were deploying the delivered new array when they noticed a tear developing. They stopped the deployment and consulted with NASA Mission Control in Houston for a fix.
The result was an epic spacewalk – the procedures for which were implemented within days – which saw astronaut Scott Parazynski Spacewalking at the top of the Canadarm2 robotic arm and an extension for a repair. Parazynski used tools made in orbit to carefully sew the tear into the fully powered network. The delicate work of Parazynski, his teammates and ground controllers in November allowed the damaged bay to complete the deployment. The fix is still in place today.
Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
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