Space station repairs end in success
Monday, 5 November 2007
WASHINGTON, Nov 4 (AFP): A physician astronaut successfully stitched a torn solar panel Saturday, in a risky and unprecedented space walk to ensure an adequate power supply at the International Space Station, NASA said.
Astronaut Scott Parazynsky, a medical doctor by profession, spent more than four hours attached to the end of a robotic boom knitting together the damaged panels with makeshift wire "cufflinks" to fix the problems caused by a snagged wire when the panels unfurled.
"It appears you have some kind of surgery to do Dr. Parazinsky," shuttle commander Pamela Melroy told the experienced spacewalker as she watched his every move through binoculars from inside the Discovery probe, currently docked at the station (ISS).
The mission carried significant danger as touching the panels risked a shock from the 300-volt current they carried.
"Beautiful," Parazynsky said as he wrapped up the in-space fix-it job.
"Outstanding work," said Peggy Whitson, one of the controllers at Houston, Texas Mission Control.
The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration had made fixing the solar arrays the top priority for the Discovery shuttle mission because without it there was a risk the tear could spread and render the power-generating wing useless.
The mission unfolded live on television screens, with cameras and microphones aboard the international Space Station and on the astronaut's helmet catching all of the discussion and directions.
Astronaut Scott Parazynsky, a medical doctor by profession, spent more than four hours attached to the end of a robotic boom knitting together the damaged panels with makeshift wire "cufflinks" to fix the problems caused by a snagged wire when the panels unfurled.
"It appears you have some kind of surgery to do Dr. Parazinsky," shuttle commander Pamela Melroy told the experienced spacewalker as she watched his every move through binoculars from inside the Discovery probe, currently docked at the station (ISS).
The mission carried significant danger as touching the panels risked a shock from the 300-volt current they carried.
"Beautiful," Parazynsky said as he wrapped up the in-space fix-it job.
"Outstanding work," said Peggy Whitson, one of the controllers at Houston, Texas Mission Control.
The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration had made fixing the solar arrays the top priority for the Discovery shuttle mission because without it there was a risk the tear could spread and render the power-generating wing useless.
The mission unfolded live on television screens, with cameras and microphones aboard the international Space Station and on the astronaut's helmet catching all of the discussion and directions.