Crew Begins Solar Panel Repairs

Astronauts get to work on risky spacewalk
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 3, 2007 8:33 AM CDT
Crew Begins Solar Panel Repairs
In this image provided by NASA television, astronaut Scott Parazynski, upper left, observes the damaged solar array, Saturday, Nov. 3, 2007 during a space walk outside the international space station. The end of the of the 90-foot robotic arm and boom extension is at lower center. (AP Photo/NASA)   (Associated Press)

A pair of Discovery astronauts embarked this morning on repairs to a ripped solar panel on the International Space Station in one of the most dangerous and challenging spacewalks ever undertaken, the AP reports. Astronaut Scott Parazynski took a 45-minute trip on a modified robotic arm to the station's far left end and began to wrestle with the extending mechanism for the highly electrified panel.

At the site, Parazynski installed a brace on the solar panel with a delicate maneuver. "Well done," said Discovery commander Pamela Melroy, who then warned him to be careful. Parazyinki then began snipping mangled wires from the rip. A camera on the astronaut's helmet conveyed pictures of the damage to Mission Control. (More Discovery space shuttle stories.)

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