[sarex] STS-116 MCC Status Report #07

[Arthur Rowe]

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

STATUS REPORT: STS-116-07

STS-116 MCC Status Report #07

The International Space Station is now two tons heavier, with the 
installation today of its newest truss segment during the flight’s first 
spacewalk.

Mission Specialists Bob Curbeam and Christer Fuglesang ventured outside 
the station to attach the P5 segment of the station’s truss and replace 
a failed camera needed to support future assembly tasks. They also were 
able to fit in some extra tasks that will save future spacewalkers time, 
including plugging the new segment into the existing truss, removing the 
locks that held it steady during launch and opening a latch that will 
allow the P6 segment to be attached when it is moved from its current, 
temporary location to its permanent place at the end of the port truss.

The spacewalk began at 2:31 p.m. CST, and Curbeam and Fuglesang were 
back inside by 9:07 p.m. The truss was officially attached at 4:45 p.m., 
and installation was complete by 5:21 p.m. Total duration of the 
spacewalk was 6 hours, 36 minutes.

Upon their return to the Quest airlock at the end of the spacewalk, 
Curbeam took a moment to congratulate Nobel Prize winners, including Dr. 
John C. Mather, a Goddard Space Flight Center scientist honored for his 
work on the big-bang theory.

With the new port truss section in place, the crew is ready to move on 
to the second phase of the mission – rewiring the station. That work 
will begin Wednesday when the port solar array on truss segment P6 is 
folded up, allowing the P4 solar arrays delivered by the STS-115 crew to 
rotate and track the sun. Once that’s done, Curbeam and Fuglesang will 
head outside again Thursday to begin reconfiguring the external wiring 
so that power from the new solar arrays delivered in September can be used.

Meanwhile, after taking a close look at imagery gathered on the first 
three days of the flight, mission managers determined that the shuttle’s 
heat shield can support a safe return to Earth. They also decided a more 
detailed inspection that had been scheduled for tomorrow will not be 
necessary.

Space Shuttle Discovery’s seven astronauts woke at 9:47 a.m. this 
morning to the song “Waterloo” by Swedish group Abba in honor of 
Fuglesang, who is from Sweden. “Nice music this morning,” Fuglesang said 
from the Quest airlock, where he spent the night preparing for the 
spacewalk with Curbeam.

The crew is scheduled to go to sleep at 1:17 a.m. Wednesday, after 
moving the space station arm into a position that will provide a good 
view of the P6 solar array retraction. The shuttle crew will start 
flight day four at 9:17 a.m. on Wednesday. The station crew will get an 
extra 40 minutes of sleep, awakening at 9:47 a.m.

The next STS-116 status report will be issued Wednesday morning or 
earlier if events warr