The U.S. Quest airlock is now depressed at the International Space Station as two American astronauts prepare to exit the outpost on a risky repair job.
Station commander Peggy Whitson and flight engineer Dan Tani aim to replace a broken motor that serves three purposes on the starboard end of the outpost's central truss.
The motor is used to pivot the station's starboard solar arrays to keep them optimally pointed at the sun as the outpost circles Earth.
It transfers electrical power between the massive American solar wing -- which stretches 240 feet from tip to tip -- and station systems.
And it also serves as a mechanical connection point between the girder-like truss and the solar arrays.
Consequently, the spacewalk today is a risky endeavor in two ways.
First, the spacewalkers must take care with the latches that hold the motor -- which is about the size of a beer keg -- in place; any slip up could result in the inadvertent release of the multimillion-dollar wing.
Second, there is a significant shock hazard involved in unplugging and replugging power cables that route electricity from the high-voltage arrays through the motor.
The spacewalkers, as a result, will be doing much of their work today while the station is on the dark side of Earth and the arrays are not generating significant amounts of power.
The hazards are spelled out in a warning on page nine of this 32-page document that details the timeline and procedures for today's spacewalk: Check out the detailed timeline for the spacewalk here: Spacewalk Timeline.
You can watch the action unfold here in The Flame Trench. Simply click the link below the image above to launch our NASA TV viewer.
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