Astronauts find more to fix: rip in solar wing

CAPE CANAVERAL - A giant solar wing ripped as it was being unfurled by astronauts aboard the international space station on Tuesday, creating another problem for NASA at the orbiting outpost.

The next shuttle flight could be delayed if this latest problem isn't resolved quickly, said NASA's space station program manager, Mike Suffredini. Atlantis is supposed to lift off in early December with a European laboratory.

"We don't clearly know what we're dealing with yet," Suffredini said.

The astronauts immediately halted the wing extension when they spotted the damage, and NASA is concerned about the structural problem posed by a partially deployed panel.

Suffredini said the wing can provide 97 percent power since the power line doesn't appear to be damaged. He said spacewalking astronauts could cut whatever might be snagging the solar wing and possibly sew up the tear.

The damage was especially agonizing for the 10 space travelers because it came on the heels of an otherwise hugely successful day. Two of shuttle Discovery's crew had just wrapped up a seven-hour space walk and were still reveling in the smooth extension of the first of two retracted solar wings on a newly installed beam.

During the space walk - the third of their mission - Scott Parazynski and Douglas Wheelock installed a massive beam holding a pair of solar wings, which were folded like an accordion. It took three days to move the beam from one location on the space station to another 145 feet away and was considered one of the hardest construction jobs ever attempted in orbit.

Parazynski also dealt with the other problem on the space station, inspecting one of two rotary joints that keep the station's solar panels turned toward the sun.

Steel shavings were found during a space walk over the weekend in the joint on the right side of the station, and Parazynski was asked to look at the left joint for comparison. Everything inside that joint was shiny and looked pristine.

Until NASA figures out what's grinding inside the gears and fixes it, the right joint will remain in a parked position as much as possible, limiting power collection.

Discovery's space station construction mission has already been extended a day because of the solar joint problem, with landing set for Nov. 7. Suffredini hinted that another two days could be added to the flight if the newest problem is deemed serious enough.

[Last modified October 31, 2007, 01:20:08]