Veteran astronaut set to do record fourth spacewalk

December 17, 2006

POSTED: 11:24 a.m. EST, December 17, 2006

HOUSTON, Texas (AP) -- Astronaut Robert Curbeam is poised to set a record with his fourth spacewalk of the space shuttle Discovery mission, this one to work on a stalled solar panel.

That would be the highest number of forays into space conducted by a crew member on a single mission.

Lead spacewalk officer Tricia Mack said she wasn't concerned about fatigue.

" Really, if anyone can do it, it's Beamer, " she said Saturday, using Curbeam's nickname and breaking into a smile. " He is rock solid. "

The fourth spacewalk, now set for Monday, was unplanned. NASA added it Saturday because several attempts have failed in completely retracting the solar panel.

Discovery's crew awoke Sunday to a recording of Johann Strauss' " Blue Danube Waltz, " ready for a comparatively relaxed day of spacewalk preparations.

Curbeam, a Baltimore native, came to the Discovery mission the most experienced crew member in terms of flight experience. This is his third trip to space. He also has the most spacewalking experience, having done three prior spacewalks.

During the first spacewalk this mission, Curbeam helped install a 2-ton, $11-million addition to the international space station. He spent the second and third spacewalks rewiring the orbiting space lab from its interim power system to a permanent electricity grid.

NASA had to retract a solar array that was part of the temporary system to make way for new solar wings to rotate with the movement of the sun and produce power for the permanent system.

The old array retracted halfway Wednesday before getting stuck, and since then, the space agency has tried a number of strategies in an attempt to fix it.

After completing their main tasks on Saturday's spacewalk, Curbeam and rookie spacewalker Sunita Williams headed over to the array to get a firsthand look at the problem. They found that a couple of grommets were stuck together and snagging the guidewire that runs through them.

The pair pushed on a box into which the accordion-like array folds, causing the 115-foot panel to shake. That managed to free some of the grommets and enabled other astronauts on the space station to retract the array further.

But then more became stuck, and the spacewalkers' time had run out. Water and oxygen supplies in spacesuits generally aren't designed to last longer than about seven hours.

So on Monday, Curbeam and Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang, who worked together on the first two spacewalks this mission, will go back out to finish the job.

This time they will bring some tools, each wrapped with insulated tape to protect against shock hazards. NASA managers hope the job can be completed within 6-1/2 hours.

NASA decided to add the unplanned spacewalk because leaving it to later crews could delay scheduled objectives. The space agency is on a tight deadline to complete assembly of the space station by 2010, when the shuttle is due to retire.

The addition to the flight plan means Discovery will delay its landing by a day, from Thursday to Friday, after 13 days in space.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/12/17/space.shuttle.ap/index.html

Dear List,

Tomorrow, NASA will be in Ju/Ve/Ra/Ra/Ve.

On Friday, NASA will be in Ju/Ve/Ra/Ra/Mo.

Best wishes,

Jorge