CHICAGO, ILL (WBBM Newsradio 780) -- NASA decided Monday to extend the Space Shuttle Discovery’s mission by one day to give astronauts additional time to investigate potential damage on a solar array that powers the International Space Station. The problem involved a rotating joint that controls movement of the station’s wings. Lombard native Dan Tani discovered metallic debris inside the mechanism during his Sunday spacewalk.
“I could see instantly there was debris in there,” said Tani during a news briefing Monday from inside new “Harmony” module on ISS. He spoke to reporters, including WBBM’s Steve Grzanich and described the contamination inside on solar power joint. “It looked to me like black dust, metallic shavings or filings. There were places where it was very apparent. It was unmistakable that it should not be there,” Tani said. (NASA photo above)
During his inspection, Tani also observed some discoloration on another area of the mechanism. In recent weeks, the solar array has experienced power spikes and NASA has limited the joint’s motion to prevent further potentially permanent damage. Metal shavings could be the result of a much bigger problem involving the gears on the rotary joint. The mechanism was launched and installed four months ago and controls the solar panel wings on the right side of the space station, ensuring they always face the sun.
“I have never seen one in the pristine state because this is not a task I ever prepared for,” said Tani. “But it was obvious to me that there was significant debris, sort of a dust in there, so we’ve been trying to figure out what that is,” he added.
NASA scheduled a spacewalk for Thursday to thoroughly inspect the gear mechanism. The ISS program manager described the EVA as “exploratory surgery.” Astronauts will conduct a spacewalk Tuesday to inspect and photograph the joint on the left solar wings. That joint has been working fine but the imagery could help NASA troubleshoot the problem with the other solar panel.
“We have lots of time to work through this problem,” said Mike Suffredini, NASA's space station program manager, adding that it’s too soon to know whether the joint trouble will affect future flights or delay construction of the $100 billion dollar space station. “The system is robust in terms of providing the power we need. We know how to operate around it so we can get all the power that we require,” he added.
The decision to extend Discovery’s mission means the orbiter will now depart the space station on November 5 with landing two days later on November 7. The solar array glitch could jeopardize the planned December installation of the European Space Agency’s laboratory “Columbus.” The module will be attached to Harmony, which was installed last week by the Discovery crew.
Tani, 46, flew into space October 23 aboard Discovery and joined the space station’s Expedition 16 crew when the orbiter docked with ISS last week. He will act as flight engineer during his six-week tour of duty on the station. He is scheduled to return to Earth later this year on an upcoming shuttle mission.
E-Mail Story
Print Story
