Spacewalking astronauts are carefully stepping through inspections outside the International Space Station, scraping up contamination samples in a bid to pinpoint problems with a crucial solar wing rotary joint.
Station skipper Peggy Whitson and flight engineer Dan Tani are trying to collect samples without creating additional debris that could get caught up in the 10-foot-diameter mechanism, which is designed to turn massive solar wings like a Ferris wheel so they can constantly track the sun, maximizing electrical output.
The samples will be returned to Earth so that engineers can analyze them in an effort to isolate the source of the contamination.
The astronauts likely will be asked to remove one of 12 trundle bearing assemblies within the joint so it can be returned to Earth for engineering analysis, too.
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