[sarex] STS-116 MCC Status Report #11

[Arthur Rowe]

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

NASA NEWS

8:30 p.m. CST Thursday, Dec. 14, 2006
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

	12.14.06
STATUS REPORT: STS-116-11

STS-116 MCC Status Report #11

Two spacewalking electricians completed half of STS-116’s rewiring 
today, and when flight controllers threw the switch, the lights inside 
the International Space Station turned on again without a hitch.

Mission Specialists Bob Curbeam and Christer Fuglesang began their 
second spacewalk at 1:41 p.m. CST. Less than two hours later, they had 
the first half of the station’s permanent power system – channels two 
and three – up and running, taking advantage of power generated by the 
solar arrays delivered in September.

The second half of the station’s power system – channels one and four – 
will be reconfigured during the mission’s third spacewalk Saturday. Once 
that’s done, the station’s power system will be in its assembly complete 
configuration, ready for the addition of more solar arrays and science 
modules next year.

Before the spacewalkers swapped the cable connections, station flight 
controllers had to shut down about half of the station’s systems, 
including some lights, communication gear, ventilation fans and back-up 
computers. They started the power down just before 2 p.m., and by 3:45 
p.m., were powering up main bus switching units for the first time ever 
and activating power channels two and three. By 4:30 p.m., one of two 
external thermal control system loops was actively shedding excess heat 
into space, and the direct current-to-direct current converter units 
were regulating power voltages.

The space walkers headed out the hatch of the Quest airlock this 
afternoon about 30 minutes ahead of schedule, and made it through their 
tasks quickly enough to pick up another thirty minutes. They finished at 
6:41 p.m., an hour earlier than planned and exactly five hours after 
they started. Expedition 14 Flight Engineer Suni Williams and STS-116 
Mission Specialist Joan Higginbotham operated the station's robotic arm 
in support of the spacewalk.

Before heading back into the station, Curbeam and Fuglesang also 
relocated two small handcarts that run along rails on the station’s main 
truss, put a thermal cover on the station’s robotic arm and installed 
bags of tools for future spacewalkers.

Discovery’s crew is scheduled to go to sleep at 1:47 a.m. Friday. Flight 
Day 7 begins with a wakeup call at 8:47 a.m. The crew will spend the day 
transferring supplies and equipment from Discovery to the station, 
participating in a news conference and enjoying some off-duty time.

The next STS-116 status report will be issued Friday morning or earlier 
if events warrant.

- end -