Скачать или смотреть Astronauts performed emergency repairs on space station solar energy panel

(3 Nov 2007)

1. Wide shot of shuttle, International Space Station and solar wings
2. Mid shot of astronaut Douglas Wheelock helping tether astronaut Scott Parazynski to boom
3. Astronaut helmet camera close up of handling boom
4. Various animations of boom carrying astronaut to damaged solar array
5. Wide shot of Parazynski on end of boom
6. Astronaut helmet camera close up of Parazynski wielding camera
7. Wide shot of boom moving Parazynski close to solar array
8. Astronaut helmet camera mid shot of damage to solar array
9. Astronaut helmet camera close up of damage
10. Mid shot of Parazynski working on solar array
11. UPSOUND: (English) Pamela Melroy, Discovery commander
"Hold the blanket away from you with the hockey stick while you shove the cufflink through it. Then it might settle down that dynamic."
12. Astronaut helmet camera close up of repair work
13. UPSOUND: (English) Scott Parazynski, astronaut
"Yeah, I got the first half in. Second half in."
14. UPSOUND: (English) Pamela Melroy, Discovery commander
"Well done."
15. Astronaut helmet camera wide shot of Parazynski repairing array
16. Wide shot of station boom and solar arrays

STORYLINE:

A spacewalking astronaut performed emergency surgery on a ripped solar energy panel on the International Space Station on Saturday, in a difficult attempt to repair the vital piece of electricity-generating equipment.

Scott Parazynski installed a homemade brace on the torn wing and then began clipping the snarled wires that had ripped the wing in two places as it was being unfurled on Tuesday.

The damage must be repaired for construction on the space station to continue.

"Well done," Discovery commander Pamela Melroy said after Parazynski finished installing the brace. She also warned him to be careful.

Perched at the tip of a 90-foot robotic arm and boom extension, Parazynski rode to the damage site at the far left end of the linked shuttle-station complex.

It's about half a football field away from the pressurized compartments where the astronauts work and live.

The ugly snag involved a guide wire, two hinge wires and two grommets.

Parazynski first clipped a hinge wire near the larger tear, using a special tool that looked like a hockey stick, to make sure the panel didn't spring back and hit him.

The solar panel captures sunlight to generate electricity, and is alive with more than 100 volts of electricity, possibly as much as 160 volts.

As soon as Parazynski cut the guide wire, the approximately 90-foot stretch of it recoiled all the way down into a reel where spacewalker Douglas Wheelock was controlling and monitoring it.

Parazynski's helmet camera sent close-up pictures of the damage to Mission Control and the space station, allowing the astronauts and experts on the ground to discuss the best way to tackle the damage on the gold-coloured wing.

To reduce the risk of Parazynski being shocked by the electricity generated by the panel, all of the metal parts on his space suit were covered with insulating tape - triple-taped, in fact - as were all his tools.

Without repairs, the wing poses a structural hazard for the international space station.

The damage could worsen and the wing could become unstable, possibly forcing NASA to cut it loose and lose a vital power source for future laboratories.

It was Parazynski's fourth spacewalk this mission and the seventh of his 15-year astronaut career.

===============

Clients are reminded:

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...