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Station's new truss rotation joint swings into action BY WILLIAM HARWOOD STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION Posted: September 13, 2006
As installed on the left end of the station's main solar array truss Tuesday, the new panels were oriented so their cooling radiators would have extended straight up if deployed, contacting a set of operational arrays. After checking out the new solar alpha rotary joint - SARJ - flight controllers sent commands to turn the joint, first 5 degrees and then a full 180 degrees, using one of two redundant motors. Space station flight director John McCullough said the initial checks went well and controllers will move the joint a full 360 degrees later today to test the other drive system. "The really great news is the SARJ, the solar alpha rotary joint that we worked so hard on and talked about so much, it moved right before this briefing," McCullough told reporters. "I was pretty excited to see that. It was a great day and very visually enticing." If all goes well, flight controllers will begin the solar array extension process late today, deploying each packed-up wing a bit more than a yard, the length of one bay of their motorized self-assembling masts. On Thursday, the Atlantis astronauts will send commands to extend the masts the rest of the way. Once deployed, each 38-foot-wide solar array wing will stretch more than 115 feet in opposite directions. A detailed overview of solar array deployment will be posted here later today.
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VIDEO:
PORT 3/PORT 4 TRUSS KEEL PIN REMOVED AND STOWED 