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STS-119 second spacewalk: Construction of external storage facilities failed, and the astronauts performed other activities instead

On Friday, the new solar collectors were successfully deployed under control from the space station, and unlike previous missions, this time the collectors were deployed without any malfunctions * Several malfunctions actually occurred during the spacewalk itself

The retirement of the solar collectors on Friday as photographed during the activity by the NASA television cameras
The retirement of the solar collectors on Friday as photographed during the activity by the NASA television cameras

Tonight (last night) Steve Swanson and Joseph Akva performed the second spacewalk of mission STS-119.

In the first part of the 6.5-hour mission, which will end around one past midnight, they released harnesses and installed leg harnesses, as well as installed a toolbox, so that the spacewalkers on the next mission - STS-127 could easily reach the outer side of the P6 component and replace its batteries.

The two then proceeded to Component P3 to try and install an Unpressurized Cargo Carrier Attachment System (UCCAS). The UCASS will be used to store equipment and supplies outside the space station. However, they encountered difficulties in this operation. They struggled with a bolt that made it impossible to fully install the component and they left the task to deal with more urgent work. The UCCAS will be used in the future to store equipment and supplies outside the station.
The next task was to connect a GPS antenna to the Japanese Kibo laboratory. The GPS will be used for the planned rendezvous between the Japanese HTV cargo spacecraft in September and the station. Meanwhile Aqaba took normal and infrared pictures of the radiator surfaces mounted outside the P1 and S1 components.

On Friday, the new solar collectors were successfully deployed under control from the space station, and unlike previous missions where the ribs of the collectors got stuck during opening or closing (in one of the cases where it was necessary to move the old collectors to another location and the help of spacewalkers was required to fix the malfunction), this time the collectors were deployed without faults

During the spacewalk, at 20:38 Israel time, NASA had to activate the space shuttle Discovery in order to maintain the flight altitude of the space station. This is because the torque control gyroscope has entered a saturation state. NASA says that this incident had no effect on the spacewalkers and that the first time the gyroscope balances, it will return to take control of the station's altitude.

One response

  1. The letters S and P mark the right and left side of the pole on which the solar panels are attached (the truss):
    Right side: Starboard side
    Left side: Port side

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