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| Image above: STS-116 Mission Specialist Bob Curbeam
floats with his spacesuit in the Destiny laboratory of the International
Space Station as he prepares for the mission's first spacewalk. Image
Credit: NASA |
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Spacewalkers perform electrical re-wire work and move carts
Mission Specialists Robert Curbeam and Christer Fuglesang took on the
roles of electricians and movers during STS-116’s second spacewalk
at the International Space Station.
During the 5-hour excursion, which ended at 7:41 p.m. EST Thursday, they
rearranged the station’s power system from a temporary status to
a permanent setup and relocated two equipment carts.
To prepare the station for the spacewalkers’ electrical work, flight
controllers sent a barrage of commands to power down roughly half of the
station’s systems.
The spacewalk kicked off at 2:41 p.m., and Curbeam and Fuglesang, KE5CGR,
quickly went to work rewiring two of the station’s four power channels.
After they finished the connections, flight controllers began sending
commands at 4:45 p.m. to power up the electrical systems in their new
configuration.
The remaining two channels will be rewired during the mission’s
third spacewalk, slated for Saturday. The STS-116 crew is performing the
electrical work to bring power generated by the P4 solar arrays on line
for use by the station's systems and prepare for more arrays to be added
next year.
The duo then turned their attention to the relocation of two crew equipment
translation aid carts. This cleared the way for the station’s mobile
transporter rail car to move down the station's rail system to the S1
truss at a later date in preparation for the STS-117 mission next spring.
The final task of the spacewalk was the rerouting of cables on the Z1
truss.
Pilot Bill Oefelein coordinated the spacewalk activities. Expedition
14 Flight Engineer Sunita Williams, KD5PLB, and STS-116 Mission Specialist
Joan Higginbotham operated the station’s robotic arm.
In other activities, STS-116 and Expedition 14 crew members continued
cargo transfers between Space Shuttle Discovery and the station.
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