NASA unfurled two solar wings on the new 17.5-tonne addition to the international space station early on Thursday after overcoming a software problem that delayed the maneuver for hours.
The solar wings, opening separately like accordion window blinds, looked like cosmic blankets of gold in the reflection of an orbital sunrise. The astronauts adjusted the space station's position, and each deployment was halted midway for a half hour so solar panels on the two arrays could be heated by the sun to prevent them from sticking together, a problem astronauts have encountered before.
NASA engineers ran into an early problem when they didn't get the response they wanted from commands to a rotating joint that allows the solar arrays to move with the sun to maximize the amount of power generated.
They were able to fix the glitch but it put the day's activities several hours behind schedule.
Space shuttle Atlantis' 11-day schedule is tightly packed and the arrays needed to be deployed in order for astronauts to go on the third and final spacewalk of the mission that was scheduled for yesterday. The mission is the first since late 2002 to resume space station construction, which was halted after the Columbia accident in early 2003.
"About the only thing on the timeline that's accurate at this point is probably the post-sleep," astronaut Kevin Ford in Mission Control in Houston told space station astronaut Jeff Williams, referring to the time after the crew wakes up that is devoted to personal hygiene.
"Nothing like adding a little drama to the day," Williams said a short time later.
The solar arrays were mounted on blankets and folded up like an accordion for delivery as part of the new US$372 million addition added to the space station. When the space station is completed in 2010, the solar arrays will provide about a quarter of its power.
Two of Atlantis' astronauts are experienced in deploying solar arrays. Atlantis commander Brent Jett and mission specialist Joe Tanner were members of a crew in 2000 that also delivered a pair of solar wings to the space station.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not