Dangerous Repair Process on Solar Panel is a Success

Nov 04, 07:14 AM

Current Headlines: By ROBERT BLOCK

By Robert Block

The Orlando Sentinel

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.

Veteran astronaut Scott Parazynski on Saturday stepped out into one of the most dangerous spacewalks ever planned and successfully repaired the International Space Station's damaged solar array after nearly five hours of nail-biting work .

Cutting wires and harnessing damaged solar panels together, Parazynski dangled at the end of a boom attached to the end of a robotic arm, studiously avoiding making contact with the electrical array, which could have badly shocked him or worse.

The mission was deemed critical by NASA after wires got snagged Tuesday while the array was being unfurled. The snag tore a 2 1/2 - foot hole on one solar panel and slightly ripped another nearby. The damage to the station's power system threatened to sink future space shuttle missions to the orbiting platform.

"Hooray," Parazynski shouted when the array was unfurled to its full 110-foot length. "What an accomplishment!"

The achievement not only clears the way for future shuttle missions to station but also sets the stage for the addition of a European laboratory next month.

The daring walk by Parazynski enshrines the 46-year-old emergency room physician and veteran astronaut as an agency hero, and it vindicates NASA engineers and mission managers who designed the daring repair procedure.

Parazynski accidentally let go of his wire-cutting tool at one point, but he caught it. A few hours later, he lost his needle-nose pliers. The astronauts inside the station spotted the pliers drifting nearby.

"We're going to have to let it go ... not much we can do now," Parazynski said, hustling to get back indoors.

Even after the repairs were complete, it took almost an hour for Parazynski and another spacewalking astronaut to be maneuvered back from the wing, riding on the end of a nearly 90-foot robotic arm extension that just barely reached the damage. That's how long it took him to get out there, too.

The astronauts re-entered the shuttle about 1:20 p.m. after a spacewalk that lasted more than 7 hours .

The spacewalk wrapped up station construction work for the seven shuttle astronauts. The hatches between the linked spacecraft will close to day, and the shuttle will pull away Monday.

Landing is set for Wednesday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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