Seventh new solar array goes up on the space station, one more to come

A spacewalk added the seventh roll-out solar array to the ISS; an eighth is planned for Nov. 5, lifting capacity by up to 30%, per NASA.

NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk completed a 7-hour, 11-minute spacewalk outside the International Space Station, ending at 3:08 p.m. EDT. They installed and deployed an IROSA (ISS Roll-Out Solar Array) on the station's 2A power channel. It is the seventh such array added to the station. The crew also prepared for a further spacewalk planned for Thursday, Nov. 5.

On Nov. 5, astronauts are due to install the eighth and last array, on the 3B power channel. With all eight new arrays in place, NASA says station power capacity rises from 160 kilowatts to about 215 kilowatts, an increase of up to 30%. The added power is meant to support essential operations, including the station's eventual controlled deorbit. The outing was designated U.S. spacewalk 100, Menon's fourth and Kutryk's first, and the 285th spacewalk for ISS assembly, maintenance and upgrade.

For abundance, the effect is narrow. More generation on the station sustains orbital research, which feeds knowledge, but it does nothing for the price or availability of energy on the ground. Its value is in keeping an existing lab powered through the rest of its life, not in making energy cheaper for anyone.

What to watch: whether the Nov. 5 spacewalk installs the eighth array on the 3B channel. The full 30% figure depends on it, and it hasn't happened yet. The figures are NASA's own, relayed through a ScienceDaily republication of its release, and are stated as "up to."

Source: ScienceDaily