Space Station Wing Needs Fixing

S P A C E   C E N T E R, Houston, Dec. 6 -- Astronauts on space shuttleEndeavour enjoyed some time off today after a 6½-hour spacewalkthat completed power connections for the international spacestation’s electricity-producing solar wings.

Meanwhile, mission managers today approved a plan to fixa tension problem on one of the space station’s wings.

Two cables came off their reels and pulleys when the right wingwas extended Sunday night, leaving the blanket of solar cellsslack. The problem could cause the fabric to tear or the wing tobend or break during shuttle dockings.

Spacewalk Helmet Cams

NASA’s repair plan calls for astronauts Joe Tanner and CarlosNoriega to try to fix the problem at the start of their thirdspacewalk Thursday.

The astronauts will climb to the top of the truss that holds thesolar wings’ batteries and electronics and use tools to put the twoloose cables back into place.

“We think we have a really good plan in place, and it’s afairly simple task, we believe,” said Glenda Laws, lead spacewalkofficer.

The second wing was released Monday during a nearly two-hourstart-and-stop unfurling procedure to prevent what happened to thefirst wing.

During Tuesday’s spacewalk, Noriega used a small TV cameramounted on his helmet to transmit pictures of the loose tensioncables on the right wing.

The helmet cameras — dubbed “Carlos-cam” and “Joe-cam” — area new spacewalking feature. Tanner’s helmet camera stopped working,however, and the shuttle crew planned to try fixing it forThursday’s spacewalk.

Also Tuesday, Noriega and Tanner hooked up power cables betweenthe solar wings and the station, while station commander BillShepherd and his Russian crew attached cables on the inside tocomplete the circuit.

“I’m not tired at all. I may be cranky in my old age, but I’mnot tired,” said the 50-year-old Tanner.

Space Station Is Wired