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Space walkers Perform Electrical Work, Move Carts
Mission Specialists Robert Curbeam and Christer Fuglesang took on the roles of electricians and movers during STS-116’s second spacewalk at the International Space Station. During the 5-hour excursion, which ended at 7:41 p.m. EST Thursday, they rearranged the station’s power system from a temporary status to a permanent setup and relocated two equipment carts.
To prepare the station for the spacewalkers’ electrical work, flight controllers sent a barrage of commands to power down roughly half of the station’s systems.
The spacewalk kicked off at 2:41 p.m., and Curbeam and Fuglesang quickly went to work rewiring two of the station’s four power channels. After they finished the connections, flight controllers began sending commands at 4:45 p.m. to power up the electrical systems in their new configuration.
The remaining two channels will be rewired during the mission’s third spacewalk, slated for Saturday. The STS-116 crew is performing the electrical work to bring power generated by the P4 solar arrays on line for use by the station's systems and prepare for more arrays to be added next year.
The duo then turned their attention to the relocation of two crew equipment translation aid carts. This cleared the way for the station’s mobile transporter rail car to move down the station's rail system to the S1 truss at a later date in preparation for the STS-117 mission next spring. The final task of the spacewalk was the rerouting of cables on the Z1 truss.
Pilot Bill Oefelein coordinated the spacewalk activities. Expedition 14 Flight Engineer Sunita Williams and STS-116 Mission Specialist Joan Higginbotham operated the station’s robotic arm.
In other activities, STS-116 and Expedition 14 crew members continued cargo transfers between Space Shuttle Discovery and the station.
For the latest news and information on the International Space Station and the Expedition 14 crew, please visit the main station page. + Read more http://www.nasa.gov/station