Updated

Updated · NASA · Nov 6

ISS Crew Lifts Power Capacity 30% to 215 Kilowatts, Wraps 6-Hour Spacewalk Cleanup

Updated

Updated · NASA · Nov 6

ISS Crew Lifts Power Capacity 30% to 215 Kilowatts, Wraps 6-Hour Spacewalk Cleanup

Q: What temporary technical glitch nearly derailed the installation of a 750-pound, motor-free solar array in the vacuum of space?

The near-derailing glitch was a temporary **shunt-current problem** in the solar array’s electrical connection. After astronauts Anil Menon and Joshua Kutryk mounted the 750-pound roll-out solar array and began hooking it into the ISS power system, Mission Control saw only **about half the expected shunt current**. That meant the array was not showing the electrical behavior needed for a safe deployment, and controllers warned they might not be able to unfurl it. To troubleshoot, the crew **inspected the connectors**. Because the array generates electricity in sunlight, they had to wait until the station passed into **Earth’s shadow** before checking and correcting the connection safely. Once the connectors were verified and ground teams saw **normal shunt-current readings**, NASA gave the go-ahead to deploy. The array then unfurled successfully using **stored strain energy in its carbon-composite booms**, not motors, reaching its full length in about 10 minutes.

1 articles · Updated · NASA · Nov 6

Expedition 75 spent Friday securing the station after Thursday’s 6-hour, 59-minute spacewalk, with Joshua Kutryk and Anil Menon reconfiguring suits, stowing tools and powering down Quest airlock support gear.
The cleanup followed installation of the ISS’s eighth roll-out solar array, which completed a years-long upgrade that raised generating capacity from 160 kilowatts to 215 kilowatts—about 30%.
Kutryk and Menon also refilled spacesuit water tanks, cleared air bubbles and installed rechargeable batteries, then joined Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney in a post-spacewalk review with ground engineers.
In the Russian segment, Sergey Teteryatnikov ran cardiorespiratory tests measuring blood pressure, heart rate and breathing during treadmill exercise, while Anna Kikina serviced ventilation and payload hardware and Pyotr Dubrov finished carbon-dioxide monitoring.