spacetoday.net: Astronauts complete retraction of solar panel

Posted: Tue, Dec 19, 2006, 7:28 AM ET (1228 GMT)
STS-116: EVA #4 (NASA)

Astronauts completed the retraction of a troublesome solar array on Monday during an unscheduled EVA. Robert Curbeam and Christer Fuglesang spent just over six and a half hours outside the ISS Monday on the fourth EVA of the STS-116 shuttle mission. The EVA, added to the schedule only on Saturday, allowed the two astronauts to help with the retraction of a solar array on the P6 segment of the station, after previous efforts to have the panel retract automatically failed. The astronauts primarily tugged on guide wires that got stuck in grommets on array segments as they retracted. The panel, and an identical one of the same segment, have to be retracted before the segment is moved to its final location on the station's truss next year. The EVA was the fourth in the mission for Curbeam, setting the record for the most spacewalks by an astronaut on a single shuttle mission. Discovery is scheduled to undock with the ISS shortly after 5 pm EST (2200 GMT) Tuesday, with a landing in Florida on Friday afternoon.