Source: Xinhua
03-19-2009 11:49
Special Report: Tech MaxWASHINGTON, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Astronauts aboard the U.S. space shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station (ISS) used robot arms to unpack the ISS' fouth and final set of solar array wings from Discovery's cargo bay on Wednesday.
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| A camera outside the International Space Station reveals the shuttle Discovery just after its March 17, 2009 docking during the STS-119 mission. Credit: NASA TV. |
Two astronauts from Discovery's seven-member crew are scheduled to conduct a spacewalk on Thursday, the first during Discovery's eight-day stay with the ISS, to deploy the solar array wings. It is the primary purpose of the shuttle mission.
Each solar array wing has two 115-foot-long (35 meters) arrays, for a total wing span of 240 feet (73 meters), including the equipment that connects the two wings and allows them to twist as they track the sun.
Altogether, the station's arrays can generate as much as 120 kilowatts of usable electricity -- enough to provide about forty-two 2,800-square-foot (260 square meters) homes with power.
The new wings will bring the 10-year-old space station to full power, which is critical for boosting science research and allowing the crew to double to six.
The astronauts also maneuvered the S6 struss segment out of the shuttle and over to the space station. It will be installed during Thursday's spacewalk.
