Thursday, September 21, 2006
STS-115, Atlantis
STS-115 landed in Florida this morning. Another mission successfully completed, with very little in the way of trouble. Much was made, of course, about the debris encountered after separation from the ISS. I say it's no big deal. The Atlantis had been on the ground for about 4 years, and has had quite a bit of work done on it over that time. There's bound to be bits and pieces loose on it. They did another inspection of the thermal tile system before re-entry, and found little or no damage. It arrived in Florida, safe and sound this morning.
This mission changed the appearance of the ISS quite a bit from the one I have as wallpaper on my computer. They added another truss, and attached a new solar array. This is what it looks like now, after they attached the new sections. The new solar panels are functioning and generating power. They've tested the mechanisms that will be used to position the panels to track the sun. However, they haven't been hooked into the power grid of the station yet. That remains to be done by the STS-116 crew.
This is what it's going to look like after STS-116. As you can see, one half of the upper solar array will be rolled back up giving the newer panels unobstructed exposure to the sun. The newer panels will then be connected to the station's power grid and will start supplying almost double the amount of electricity currently available to the complex. This upper location of the origianl panels was only temporary. During the STS-117 mission, crews will add another truss section and solar array to the starboard section, and the remaining solar panel will be retracted. It will look like this afterwards. The by-now fully retracted top array will eventually be relocated to the end of the just installed port truss section and unfurled. That will be one of the last operations as station construction is completed by 2010.
This all assumes, of course, there will be no more shuttle accidents.
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny ..."
Isaac Asimov
This mission changed the appearance of the ISS quite a bit from the one I have as wallpaper on my computer. They added another truss, and attached a new solar array. This is what it looks like now, after they attached the new sections. The new solar panels are functioning and generating power. They've tested the mechanisms that will be used to position the panels to track the sun. However, they haven't been hooked into the power grid of the station yet. That remains to be done by the STS-116 crew.
This is what it's going to look like after STS-116. As you can see, one half of the upper solar array will be rolled back up giving the newer panels unobstructed exposure to the sun. The newer panels will then be connected to the station's power grid and will start supplying almost double the amount of electricity currently available to the complex. This upper location of the origianl panels was only temporary. During the STS-117 mission, crews will add another truss section and solar array to the starboard section, and the remaining solar panel will be retracted. It will look like this afterwards. The by-now fully retracted top array will eventually be relocated to the end of the just installed port truss section and unfurled. That will be one of the last operations as station construction is completed by 2010.
This all assumes, of course, there will be no more shuttle accidents.
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny ..."
Isaac Asimov
