Astronaut Parazynski and solar array both shine bright on Space Station

By William Atkins
Sunday, 04 November 2007 18:15

Science - Space

Emergency room surgeon turned high-flying, space-walking astronaut surgeon performed delicate surgery on an ailing solar array on Saturday, November 3, 2007. He left a scar but the patient has been healed.       

Dr. Scott E. Parazynski, U.S. astronaut and member of the STS-120 crew, healed the wounds of the ailing solar array during the over seven-hour spacewalk, 2.5 hours of which consisted of the actual operation to repair two tears in the solar array—the largest one about 2.5 feet in length.

He was positioned at the end of an extension to the space station's long robotic arm during the operation. Parazynski was over 90 feet out on the artificial limb, which took him on his 45-minute trip out to the repair site. The robotic arm was operated from within the station by astronauts Daniel Tani and Stephanie Wilson.

Assisting Parazynski outside of the station was U.S. astronaut Doug Wheelock, who was located at the base of the array, in charge of troubleshooting.

When Parazynski got to the damaged area he found a guide wire caught in another wire that ran through a hinge used for connecting the panels. He described the whole scene as a “hairball” of frayed wires, loose grommets, and broken hinges.

Five homemade metal and wire devices, which the astronauts had assembled out of spare parts lying around the station. (Star Trek's ‘Mr. Spock’ would have probably said they were made out of “stone knives and bear skins”.). The astronauts nicknamed them “cufflinks”. They were weaved into various locations within the two damaged spots. The cufflinks were made with aluminum plates, cables, and insulating tape that were designed to work similar to “cufflinks” on the sleeves of a shirt.

The three-to-five feet in length cufflinks were connected by Parazynski using vice-grips, clippers, and needle-nose pliers. After they were connected, Parazynski found that they indeed did what they were designed to do: repair the two tears and stabilize the surrounding area. Parazynski also worked on the broken wires, cutting them in places and mending them in others.

Parazynski also used an L-shaped  instrument, which was nicknamed the “hockey stick”, to move the array away when it got too close.

With the repair job finished Parazynski joined Wheelock at the base of the array. Then, the astronauts inside the space station slowly began extending out the solar array to its full length of about 110 feet. The two spacewalkers observed the process so as to detect any problems that might happen with the unfurling of the panel. However, the extension worked fine with no problems observed.

Science editor Robert Block for the Orlando (Florida) Sentinel newspaper called it: “… a moment of rare audacity 215 miles above the Earth that recalled NASA's golden era of freewheeling improvisation and feats of daring.”

The only minor problems found later were a lost pair of needle-nose pliers, which are now being tracked by NASA personnel, and a small tear on one of Parazynski’s gloves.

Later in the day, the space station crew reported that the now-fixed solar array was producing just under the normal amount of electricity that it was designed to produce. It was producing 217 amps, and was designed to produce 220.

NASA still has to contend with the faulty joint assembly to another solar array. But, that will be investigated after the STS-120 crew returns to Earth with metal shavings from the assembly. The Discovery crew is scheduled to return to Earth on Wednesday, November 7, 2007. A landing time has not been decided as of yet.