sts106_power_problems_000913 CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. The
Atlantis astronauts set out to juice up the power system aboard the International Space Station Wednesday, but the work didnt exactly come off at an electrifying pace.In fact, the astronauts had to resort to brute force to tackle what was supposed to be a relatively easy electricians job: replacing an aging voltage regulator.
Atlantis commander Terry Wilcutt and cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko wear breathing masks as they work through their checklists inside the Zvezda service module.
"We have a problem," cosmonaut Boris Morukov told flight controllers in Russia.
Morukov noted that the voltage regulator which was buried beneath an outpost floorboard -- couldnt be removed because an annoying metal bracket was in the way. To complicate matters, the bracket was fastened in place with rivets.
A bit of transoceanic hemming and hawing ensued before ground controllers in Moscow and Houston came up with a makeshift fix-it plan.
Hammer wielding does the job
And then, wielding a bright orange hammer and an off-the-shelf chisel, Morukov and crew mate Dan Burbank teamed up to sever the rivets so the foot-long bracket and subsequently, the old voltage regulator finally could be removed.
"The crew did a little bit of garage work," said
NASA space station flight director Mark Ferring. "We found some toolsand we proceeded to go whack at [the bracket] a couple of times."
Added
NASA flight commentator Rob Navias: "Persistence pays off."The station pounding came amid a busy night for the Atlantis astronauts, who are preparing the fledgling international outpost for the arrival this November of its first full-time resident crew.
Setting up life support
Launched last Friday, the astronauts plan to set up crucial life-support systems such as an oxygen generator and a carbon-dioxide scrubber and theyll also install a treadmill and a toilet in the stations new Russian-made living quarters.
The big job late Tuesday and early Wednesday, though, was working on the stations electrical power system.
Floating within the stations new living quarters, crew mates Ed Lu and Yuri Malenchenko began installing bulky batteries that will power outpost systems while the complex is flying on the dark side of the planet.
Size of a city bus
About the size of a city bus, the so-called
Zvezda service module was so heavy that only five of its eight batteries were launched aboard the craft in July. The others were delivered aboard Atlantis and a Russian space freighter and are being put in place by Lu and Malenchenko.Morukov and Burbank, meanwhile, pulled out the hammer and the chisel to install a fresh battery in a second Russian module a space tug dubbed Zarya, or Sunrise, which was launched in November 1998.
A shuttle crew replaced four of six Zarya batteries last May. Another is to be swapped out by Burbank and Morukov Thursday.
"The hope is that by the end of this mission, both of the Russian modules will be at full electrical strength and the stage will be set for the arrival of the first resident crew," Navias said.
With most of the electrical work done, the astronauts turned their attention to unloading some 6,000 pounds (2,700 kilograms) of equipment and supplies from a
Progress space freighter and a shipping container in the shuttles cargo bay.A list of supplies
The gear includes food, water, clothing, toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, soap and enough stuff to outfit a home office: laptop computers, printers, scanners, pens, pencils, Post-It notes, scissors, tape and notebook binders, among other things.
Hundreds of pounds of supplies were hauled into the station early Wednesday, but the bulk of the mule work will begin in earnest Thursday.
Hot and heavy
Said
NASA launch package manager Sharon Castle: "In the next couple of days, its going to be hot and heavy."NASA decided Tuesday to give the crew an extra day to complete their station outfitting work. Consequently, the shuttle now is scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center at about 3:40 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (07:40 GMT) September 20.
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