By KUNA
Washington : US Astronauts made risky spacewalk outside the international space station on Wednesday to replace a broken motor needed to tilt a solar wing, clearing a major obstacle to the new module outpost.
During their seven-hour spacewalk Wednesday, Commander Peggy Whitson and fellow NASA astronaut Daniel Tani successfully replaced the broken motor at the base of one of the station’s solar wings, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said on its website. It’s unclear why the first motor failed.
The repairs were done in almost complete darkness, disconnecting cables and replacing a 200-pound electric motor while the space station was on the dark side of Earth, when the solar cells are inactive, so they would not be shocked.
The spacewalk was narrowly aborted when communication problems arose between the two astronauts and mission control.
This was the latest repair to the station’s solar panels over the last months. Last month, one of the solar wings had to be shut down because of loose metal shavings that blocked the joint from rotating.
It was the fifth spacewalk for Whitson has made since October and the fourth for Tani, who was due to return to Earth in December aboard the shuttle Atlantis. But that flight was postponed due to faulty fuel sensors.
According to NASA, the space station must have more of its power restored before more lab modules are added to the complex. NASA hopes to complete construction to the space station before the shuttle is officially retired in 2010.