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.
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