SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468
The Expedition 15 crew continues to conduct joint operations with its visitors on the International Space Station. Meanwhile, Russian flight controllers are troubleshooting a problem with backup navigation computers.
The computers were restarted Thursday morning. Flight controllers continue efforts to bring the computers back up to full operation.
Throughout the week, the two crews have been activating the Starboard 3 and 4 (S3/S4) truss segment that was attached to the station on Monday. The STS-117 crew has conducted two spacewalks to prepare the new segment for activation and to retract arrays on the Port 6 (P6) truss. The P6 will be relocated from atop the station to the end of the Port 5 truss by a future shuttle crew.
The S3/S4, which is 45 feet long and weighs 35,678 pounds, contains a new set of solar arrays that will increase the station’s power-generation capabilities. The S3/S4 also contains a rotary joint that will allow its arrays to track the sun.
Two more spacewalks are scheduled for STS-117’s stay.
In addition to a new truss segment, NASA Astronaut Clayton Anderson joined the Expedition 15 crew on Sunday, replacing Flight Engineer Suni Williams. Anderson arrived at the station as a member of Space Shuttle Atlantis’ crew. Atlantis docked to the station on Sunday. Williams spent six months as an Expedition crew member.
Atlantis is scheduled to undock from the station June 19.
+ Read more about Expedition 15 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition15/index.html + View crew daily timelines http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/timelines/index.html