[sarex] Astronauts Fold Arrays, Prepare for Spacewalk

[Arthur Rowe]

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

*Astronauts Fold Arrays, Prepare for Spacewalk*

Image above: The partially retracted solar array on the Port 6 truss. 
Image credit: NASA TV

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TO:http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

The STS-117 and Expedition 15 crews are moving through a busy day aboard 
the International Space Station and Space Shuttle Atlantis. They have 
been retracting solar arrays and preparing for STS-117’s third spacewalk.

The STS-117 crew resumed retraction of the starboard P6 solar array at 
12:25 p.m. today. The crew and flight controllers decided to conclude 
the efforts just before 2000 UTC. with about half of the 31½ array bays 
retracted. The crew will resume retraction activities Friday with the 
help of the spacewalkers if needed.

The schedule for STS-117 Mission Specialists Jim Reilly and Danny Olivas 
includes a review of procedures and the practice of techniques they will 
use during the spacewalk set to begin at 1738 UTC Friday. The first task 
of the extravehicular activity is the repair of a thermal blanket that 
pulled away from the orbital maneuvering system pod on the rear of the 
shuttle.

About an hour and 20 minutes before this morning’s scheduled wakeup 
call, the crews were awakened by a false alarm on the station. The alarm 
was triggered by the restart of Russian navigation computers that 
provide backup attitude control and orbital altitude adjustments.

Flight controllers continue efforts to bring the computers back up to 
full operation. For now, the station’s control moment gyroscopes are 
handling attitude control, with the shuttle’s propulsion system 
providing backup.