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Truss installed on station, spacewalk completed BY WILLIAM HARWOOD STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION Posted: June 11, 2007 Astronauts Jim Reilly and Danny Olivas successfully hooked up a $367 million set of solar arrays today, routing power to the new truss segment, releasing numerous launch locks, installing braces and rotating the array canisters into their normal position for deployment Tuesday. They also released latches allowing a folding radiator panel to extend as required. The spacewalk, the 84th devoted to station assembly and maintenance, started at 4:02 p.m. and ended at 10:17 p.m. for a duration of six hours and 15 minutes, boosting the cumulative space station EVA time to 515 hours and 20 minutes. Three more spacewalks are planned: Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. "Hey, thanks for the help on the ground, you guys," Reilly radioed from the Quest airlock module. Reilly and Olivas got off to a late start, delayed about an hour when flight controllers had to reset the station's stabilizing gyroscopes. But once outside the Quest airlock, the spacewalkers sailed through a long list of solar array outfitting tasks with only a handful of minor problems. All their objectives were met. The new S4 solar arrays feature two folding blankets of solar cells that are pulled out by telescoping central masts. When fully extended, the arrays stretch 240 feet from tip to tip. Overnight, flight controllers plan to open the S4 blanket boxes and extend each mast one bay to allow sunlight to warm the arrays. Tomorrow, the astronauts will oversee the full extension of the panels. During a spacewalk Wednesday, astronauts Steve Swanson and Patrick Forrester will complete activation of a rotary joint in the S3 truss segment that will turn the outboard arrays to keep them face-on to the sun.
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Current Shuttle Mission Patch The official embroidered patch for shuttle Atlantis' flight to deliver critical spare equipment to the space station.Ares 1-X Patch The official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.Apollo Collage This beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.![]() Project Orion The Orion crew exploration vehicle is NASA's first new human spacecraft developed since the space shuttle a quarter-century earlier. The capsule is one of the key elements of returning astronauts to the Moon.Fallen Heroes Patch Collection The official patches from Apollo 1, the shuttle Challenger and Columbia crews are available in the store. |
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