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American Astronauts Repair Battery Panels in Space
U.S. astronauts Scott Palazinski and Douglas Wheelock left the International Space Station at 6:28 a.m. Eastern Time on the 3rd (6:38 p.m. Beijing time on the 3rd) to conduct a spacewalk and repair a damaged piece of Solar panels that cannot be fully opened.The British "Times" called this mission one of the most dangerous spacewalks in the history of American aerospace, because the solar panels that needed to be repaired were still charged, and the damage point was half a football field away from the work module. Parazinski wanted to " "Walk" for nearly an hour. Previously, in order to prevent accidents, astronauts were required to leave the work module no more than half an hour away during space walks.
Parazinski and Wheelock spent the night in the International Space Station's visitor module in preparation for the unprecedented spacewalk. Until the eve of the operation, the ground center had not come up with a detailed plan for executing the mission. Parajinski also requested to discuss some issues with spacewalk experts on the ground on the 2nd, but was unable to do so due to communication failures. The ground center hopes that Parajinski's previous 40 hours of space walking experience will help him adapt accordingly.
Because the repair point is too far away, Palajinski will be fixed on the top of the boom, which is 15 meters long, and the other end is connected to a nearly 28-meter-long robotic arm. Wheelock helped Parazinski observe outside the capsule, while several other astronauts in the capsule operated robotic arms and other equipment.
During the spacewalk on October 30, Parazinski and Wheelock moved the P6 module containing the solar panels to a permanent location and attempted to open the solar panels. This set of solar panels consists of 31 slats and is 76 meters long when fully expanded. When the second slat was almost completely opened that day, the astronauts suddenly discovered cracks on the edge of the slat. The work of unfolding the solar panels was stopped immediately, and ground personnel analyzed and found two cracks, one 2.5 feet (about 75 centimeters) long, and the other about one-third as long as the first one.
The repair solution decided by NASA is to install a fixed hinge on the damaged battery panel. This hinge is similar to the buckle used on the cuff of a dress shirt to connect the two damaged parts together, but the hinge must be used by astronauts on the space station. Make your own leftovers. After calculation, the astronauts made a total of 3 sets of "buckle chains", each set of two, with lengths of approximately 164.5 cm, 161 cm and 89.5 cm respectively.
Parajinski's work is not complicated. He only needs to drill holes in the damaged parts of the solar panels and then fix the aluminum sheets at both ends of the "buckle chain", but the danger is quite high.
The most worrying thing is that the solar panels that need to be repaired are still charged, and the voltage is above 110 volts. Conventionally, power to the panels should be cut off before repairs are made, but neither the ground center nor the astronauts on the space station were able to accomplish this task.
Although the 110-volt voltage is not fatal, an astronaut would be in danger if he were electrocuted because the tools he used could melt, and his uncontrolled movements after being shocked could also cause damage to his gloves and spacesuit. In addition, the distance back to the cabin is far, and his backup oxygen may not be enough in the event of an accident.
To do this, Palazinski wrapped all the metal tools he used with three layers of insulating tape, and he and Wheelock also added an extra pair of gloves to their spacesuit gloves. This brings new difficulties to the repair work. David Wolfe, director of NASA's Spacewalk Training Center, said that installing the "cuff chain" in that special equipment is "like sewing with boxing gloves."
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