Spacewalking astronauts power through problems in giant task

Spacewalking astronauts ventured out yesterday to install support frames for new, high-efficiency solar panels arriving at the International Space Station later this year.

Nasa’s Kate Rubins and Victor Glover put the mounting brackets and struts together, then bolted them into place next to the station’s oldest and most degraded solar wings.

They had to carry out the hundreds of pounds of mounting brackets and struts in 8ft bags. The equipment was so big and awkward it had to be taken apart like furniture to get it through the hatch.

Some of the attachment locations required extra turns of the power drill and still were not snug enough.

The astronauts had to use a ratchet wrench to deal with the more stubborn bolts, which slowed them down. At one point, they were almost an hour behind.

With more people and experiments flying on the space station, more power will be needed to keep everything running.

The six new solar panels, to be delivered in pairs by SpaceX over the coming year or so, should boost the station’s electrical capability by as much as 30%.

Ms Rubins and Mr Glover worked on the struts for the first two solar panels, due to launch in June.

The eight solar panels there now are 12-20 years old, most of them past their design lifetime and deteriorating. Each of them is 112ft long by 39ft wide..

Boeing is supplying the new roll-up panels, about half the size of the old ones but just as powerful.

Ms Rubins’ helmet featured a new highdefinition camera that provided stunning views.

Kate Rubins, top, and Victor Glover at work in space.