NASA flight controllers are preparing to send commands to pivot the International Space Station's starboard solar wing -- a key test that will show whether a newly installed motor drive is working as intended.
Spacewalkers Peggy Whitson and Dan Tani, meanwhile, are continuing inspections of a giant rotary joint near the starboard end of the station's central truss - a malfunctioning device designed to turn the wing like a Ferris wheel to maximize power production.
Tani and Whitson have removed several thermal covers to expose the internal bearings and drive lock assemblies, and both are reporting contamination similar to the fine dust and metal shards detected during three spacewalking inspectionjs late last year.
The new motor and the rotary joint both must be working properly to restore full power-generation capability at the station, a key to continuing assembly.
NASA still is trying to determine the root cause of the problem with the rotary joint, and its unclear exactly what the agency's course of action will be. It's highly probably that a series of spacewalks will have to be performed later this year to recify the problem.
The new motor -- if it works -- will restore enough power to press ahead with plans to deliver both European and Japanese science labs to the outpost between now and the end of April.
The station currently is producing enough power to proceed with the planned launch of Atlantis and the European Columbis lab next week as well as the planned mid-March launch of Endeavour with the first segment of the Japanese Kibo science research facility. But the new motor drive must be working to produce enough power to support the late-April delivery of the Japanese Experiment Module, or JEM, which will be the outpost's largest and most power-hungry science lab.
You can watch the spacewalk live here in The Flame Trench. Simply click the link below the image above to launch our NASA TV viewer and refresh this page for periodic updates.
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