Spaceflight Now




Astronauts deploy first of two solar wings
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: September 14, 2006

With the international space station in free drift, the Atlantis astronauts unfurled the first of two new solar array wings today, beaming back spectacular video showing the gold-colored blankets extending like venetian blinds against the black backdrop of space.


The first solar wing nears full extension. Credit: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now
 
"The international space station beginning to spread its wings," said NASA commentator Kyle Herring in mission control.

The folded solar cell blankets unfurled smoothly as a self-assembling mast extended on computer command, pulling the array blankets from their storage boxes. As expected, numerous slats in the two blankets making up wing 4A stuck together because of a phenomenon known as 'stiction."

To deal with that, the array was first extended to 49 percent and then halted to let the panels warm up in the sun. That strategy worked, prompting astronaut Pam Melroy in mission control to tell the astronauts: "Just for your information, we are starting to see some of the panels release."

When deployment resumed a half hour later, the remaining stuck-together slats pulled apart with no problems, causing the blankets to ripple slightly as they released. But engineers had planned for that, deploying in a so-called high-tension mode that prevented excess movement.

"Solar array full deploy," commander Brent Jett radioed a few minutes past 7 a.m. "Several releases, where the springs went taut to release the panels. However, we didn't see any tension mechanism movement, the tension bar came up at the end. So high-tension mode did its job and released the panels successfully."

"That's great news, Brent, and we can confirm that on telemetry," Melroy replied.

With wing 4A fully extended to a length of about 115 feet, the astronauts turned their attention to the second panel, 2A, waiting for good lighting to carry out the same two-step deployment procedure. Once fully extended, the two arrays will stretch more than 240 feet from tip to tip.

See our earlier story for more background details on the arrays.

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Additional coverage for subscribers:
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VIDEO: HELMETCAM OF BURBANK REMOVING SARJ RESTRAINT PLAY
VIDEO: SPACEWALKERS PAUSE FOR PICTURE TIME PLAY
VIDEO: STEVE MACLEAN REPORTS LOST BOLT PLAY
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VIDEO: SECOND WING'S STRUCTURE DEPLOYED BY PIPER PLAY
VIDEO: FIRST SOLAR WING'S STRUCTURE DEPLOYED BY TANNER PLAY
VIDEO: STEP-BY-STEP PREVIEW OF SPACEWALK NO. 1 PLAY
VIDEO: TRUSS HANDED FROM SHUTTLE ARM TO STATION ARM PLAY
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VIDEO: ATLANTIS WELCOMED ABOARD THE STATION PLAY
VIDEO: DOCKING REPLAY FROM CAMERA ON SHUTTLE ARM PLAY
VIDEO: SHUTTLE ATLANTIS DOCKS TO THE STATION PLAY
VIDEO: ATLANTIS' BREATH-TAKING FLIP MANEUVER PLAY
VIDEO: CREW'S CAMCORDER FOOTAGE OF EXTERNAL TANK PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED ANIMATION PREVIEWING TRUSS UNBERTHING PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED ANIMATION PREVIEWING THE DOCKING PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED ANIMATION OF PAYLOAD BAY CONFIGURATION PLAY
MORE: STS-115 VIDEO COVERAGE
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VIDEO: TANK'S ONBOARD CAMERA LIFTOFF TO SEPARATION PLAY
VIDEO: FLIGHT DIRECTOR EXPLAINS INSPECTIONS PLAY
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LAUNCH REPLAYS:
VIDEO: BEACH MOUND TRACKER PLAY
VIDEO: CAMERA IN FRONT OF PAD PLAY
VIDEO: BANANA CREEK VIEWING SITE PLAY
VIDEO: VEHICLE ASSEMBLY BUILDING ROOF PLAY
VIDEO: PAD 39B SIDE PERIMETER PLAY
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VIDEO: MISSION SPECIALIST 3 HEIDE PIPER BOARDS PLAY
VIDEO: MISSION SPECIALIST 2 DAN BURBANK BOARDS PLAY
VIDEO: MISSION SPECIALIST 1 JOE TANNER BOARDS PLAY
VIDEO: PILOT CHRIS FERGUSON BOARDS PLAY
VIDEO: COMMANDER BRENT JETT BOARDS PLAY

VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS EMERGE FROM CREW QUARTERS PLAY
VIDEO: CREW SUITS UP FOR LAUNCH TO SPACE PLAY
VIDEO: FINAL INSPECTION TEAM CHECKS ATLANTIS PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS READY FOR SECOND LAUNCH TRY PLAY
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The official crew patch for the STS-115 mission of space shuttle Atlantis to resume orbital construction of the International Space Station.
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