On the fourth spacewalk, on Thursday, the astronauts will conduct another inspection of the damaged collector and also check the bearing responsible for rotating another solar collector for the purpose of tracking the sun
Astronauts and ground control personnel examine visible damage to the 4B solar array on the space station's P6 module. The damage was diagnosed by the crew members during the retirement of the collector. NASA ordered the retirement of the solar collector wing to be stopped in order to assess the damage. The system was deployed up to three quarters of its length, when the opening of 25 of the 31 stages was completed.
The crew members were asked to take pictures of the damaged area on the solar collector and take the pictures down to the ground. Meanwhile, during the activities after the third spacewalk that took place yesterday (Tuesday), astronaut Doug Wilcock reported to ground control that he had spotted a hole in one of the gloves. He also sent the photos to the control center for damage assessment.
The spacewalkers completed the installation of the corridor component and tested the bearing
Astronauts Scott Przezinski and Doug Wilcock helped install the component that will be part of the station corridor known as P6 into its permanent position and tested the Alpha solar collector bearing during the third spacewalk of the STS-120 mission. The stay outside the station, which lasted seven hours and eight minutes, ended at 11:53 p.m. EST (17:53 Israel time).
Immediately after the start of the spacewalk, the two approached to help the operators of the robotic arm from the station attach the P6 component to its place next to the P5 component. The two gave voice instructions to astronauts Dan Tanney and Stephanie Wilson as they aligned the component. After the 17.5 ton component was placed in place, the spacewalkers strengthened it and connected it to a power source.
After finishing work on the component, Parzynski examined the bearing responsible for rotating a solar collector that follows the sun and found no evidence of any splinters. He described the rotating ring of the bearing as "nice and clean".
The spacewalkers also assembled a spare switching unit for the communications network on the station's storage platform. Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli was the spacewalk coordinator, and pilot George Zamke was in charge of the shuttle's robotic arm.
As mentioned, in the fourth spacewalk planned for Thursday, the astronauts will test the bearing of the second rotating solar collector.
