Half deployed, the last solar array wing to unfold on the International Space Station shows a "little ripple," but mission managers say it won't stop the process from moving forward. A bit of sticking was expected, they said, given that the array has been packed in a box for years.
"We don't see anything wrong, but it looks a little bit more off nominal than we saw on the other one," shuttle Discovery commander Lee Archambault reported from inside the station.
"We believe that this is an acceptable condition to continue onward," a mission controller said from Houston. "You well know, I'm sure, that we sort of expected this given how long this array has been packed. We believe we'll be good to go, are good to go, I should say."
Archambault said the "little ripple" in the array came about a third of way up the array, or about five folds up.
The final stretch of the deployment is expected to start at 1:11 p.m. EDT. You can watch it live by clicking on the NASA TV image above to launch a NASA TV viewer.
Click "Read more..." to see a few more still photos of the wing being unfurled to its halfway point.
No comments:
Post a Comment