Image Courtesy: The Guardian
Spacewalker astronauts installed new solar panels measuring 63 feet (19m) in length on the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday, overcoming the spacesuit and other challenges in space. NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet completed their 6 hour and 28 minute spacewalk at 2:10 p.m. EDT.
According to NASA, the astronauts deployed the new ISS Roll-Out Solar Array (iROSA) on the far end of the ISS’s backbone truss structure’s left (port) side (P6). To finish deployment, the two French astronauts unfurled the solar array, screwed it into position, and linked cables to the station’s power source. Once the bolts were released, the wings relied only on pent-up energy in space, while their cameras gave live TV images.
The spacewalkers also removed and stowed the gear that would allow the second iROSA to be released from its flight support structure and placed on the P6 truss’ 4B power channel during the second spacewalk on June 25. The space agency is supplementing at least six of the eight current power channels with the additional solar arrays in order to ensure enough power supply for NASA’s exploration technology demonstrations for the lunar mission Artemis.
NASA constructed the Space Launch System (SLS), the “most powerful rocket ever built,” a week ago, to enable humans to begin their voyage to the moon. At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) and Jacobs teams eventually assembled the different parts of the SLS rocket on top of the mobile launcher inside the famous Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB.
And today, the two astronauts have been observed spacewalking to install the high-tech solar panels, ensuring that the ISS has a dependable, long-term power supply. And today, the two astronauts have been observed spacewalking to instal the high-tech solar panels, ensuring that the ISS has a dependable, long-term power supply. The astronauts have been spacewalking since December 2000 to place the panels, but earlier this month, on June 16, the duo had to return to the systems because of technical issues with the display and controls on Kimbrough’s spacesuit. During their seven-hour and fifteen-minute spacewalk that day, the astronauts were unable to install the cabling and bolts that were fundamentally necessary to finish the installation.
