The huge solar wings on the International Space Station (ISS) were successfully unfurled on Friday, paving the way for the orbiting laboratory to power up to its full capacity for the first time.
NASA said “no difficulties were encountered” in deploying the wings after astronauts Steve Swanson and Richard Arnold bolted an S6 truss to the space station on Thursday to hold panels forming the fourth and last solar antenna.
The payload is one of the final tasks of the more than decade-long effort by 16 countries to build the US$100 billion outpost in space.
PHOTO: AFP
Once activated, the solar array will have the capacity to generate 120 kilowatts of usable electricity, enough to power about 42 large homes. The ISS had been producing 90 kilowatts before the addition.
The 14-tonne S6 truss was carried into space by Discovery, which blasted off last Sunday from Florida with a crew of seven astronauts, and the orbiter’s robotic arm was used to lift it out of the shuttle’s bay.
Each solar array set has two wings measuring 35m by 11.58m, for a total span of 73m when deployed, including the truss connecting the two panels and allowing them to pivot as they follow the sun. The four panels — two per wing — contain 32,800 cells that convert sunlight into electricity.
Once deployed, the panels provide the power the space station needs to carry out scientific experiments planned by the European Columbus laboratory and the Japanese Kibo laboratory.
The space station will also be able to double the size of its crew from three to six, beginning in May.
During their spacewalk, which lasted 6 hours, 7 minutes, Swanson and Arnold also plugged in power and data connectors and prepared the panels, which had been collapsed like an accordion in a container aboard Discovery.
The next space walk was planned for last night by Swanson and fellow astronaut Joseph Acaba, and was scheduled to last 6 hours, 30 minutes.
The two are due to remove two batteries from a part of the space station that will then be replaced during the next shuttle mission in June.
A third spacewalk has been planned for later in the mission.
In all, NASA has scheduled nine shuttle flights through next year to complete the construction of the space station.
Upcoming shuttle flights also include the last mission to service the orbiting Hubble telescope in May.
Discovery is scheduled to land back on Earth on Saturday, two days after a Russian Soyuz mission takes off for the ISS carrying a crew of three, including US billionaire businessman Charles Simonyi, who has shelled out US$35 million for his second trip as a space tourist.
The Discovery mission, delayed five times, is the first by a US space shuttle this year.
It has been a near picture-perfect mission so far, barring the delayed lift-off and some pesky space rubble that had US and Russian experts braced to move the ISS in an “avoidance maneuver.”
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS