Today's unfurling of the first new solar array wing on the International Space Station was flawless. The crew is ready to move on the second and final wing, known as "3B."
If it works properly, the space station will be fully powered for the first time with eight working solar array wings, four on each side.
Each array is stretched to a length of 115 feet. When the array opposite it is extended, the two ends span 240 feet.
Deployment of "3B" is expected to start just before 12:30 p.m. EDT. The docked space station and shuttle must be repositioned for next array, which will extend forward toward the shuttle.
For each deployment, the spacecraft are oriented so one side is always pointed toward the sun, which allows the arrays to heat up as they are extended.
Those positions can only be maintained roughly four to five hours or else some station systems could be damaged by heat or cold.
That's another reason why a snag during the array deployment could pose problems.
So far, everything is proceeding on time.
You can watch the dramatic array deployments live here on The Flame Trench. Just click the NASA TV picture above to launch a viewer.
Inside the station, Discovery astronaut Sandra Magnus is working to install a new component in the urine processor that Endeavour delivered to orbit last November.
The distillation assembly, essentially a centrifuge, conked out after Endeavour left. Discovery brought up a new one and will take the old one home for testing.
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