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| Image above: The left wing of the P6 solar array
begins to fold up as it is retracted. Image Credit: NASA TV |
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P6 solar array wing retracting
The first step in STS-116’s challenging job of rerouting power
aboard the International Space Station is under way as the left wing of
the solar array on the station's P6 truss has begun to slowly retract
and fold up. The retraction began at 1:28 p.m. EST.
The folding of this 115-foot long solar array, which has been unfurled
for more than 6 years, will permit the activation of a rotary joint on
the P4 truss. The Solar Alpha Rotary Joint, or SARJ, enables the solar
arrays on the P4 to follow the sun as the station moves through orbital
sunrise and sunset. Activation of the SARJ is set for 2:57 p.m.
Two more spacewalks during STS-116’s stay will rewire and redistribute
power on the station.
Once automatic sun tracking is confirmed for the new P4 arrays, the stage
is set for the second spacewalk, scheduled to begin at 3:12 p.m. Thursday.
Mission Specialists Bob Curbeam and Christer Fuglesang, KE5CGR, who conducted
the mission’s first spacewalk, will perform Thursday’s excursion.
Curbeam and Fuglesang will again “campout” in the station’s
airlock to prepare for the spacewalk. During the overnight “campout”
the pressure will be lowered in the airlock to the pressure normally found
on Earth 10,000 feet above sea level. The procedure protects against decompression
sickness as Curbeam and Fuglesang go to the even lower pressure of spacesuits
on Thursday.
In other activities today, crewmembers will field questions from the
CBS Radio Network, the Fox Radio Network and SPACE.com at 8:07 p.m.
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