CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA – On Friday, astronauts completed their third spacewalk in less than a week, unfurling a new pair of solar panels outside the International Space Station.
As electricity rushed through the panel, Mission Control radioed, “We have a lot of smiling faces down here.”
The newest solar wing unrolled like a gigantic length of wallpaper high over the Bering Sea after Pesquet fired the final bolt. The gradual but steady expansion took ten minutes.
“Way to get out there, buddy,” Kimbrough said.
As a safety measure, the majority of the activity took place on the nightside of Earth during the 6 1/2-hour spacewalks. While the astronauts had their hands on the power grid, NASA did not want any solar panels soaking up sunlight and generating power.
The space station’s oldest solar wings, which have deteriorated after 20 years of continuous operation, will be supplemented by this first set.
Kimbrough and Pesquet have been on a six-month assignment for two months. Two more Americans, as well as one Japanese and two Russians, are on board the space station.