On Thursday, NASA astronauts Woody Hoburg and Steve Bowen updated the power supply of the International Space Station by putting in a new roll-out solar array.
The Expedition 69 flight engineers Hoburg and Bowen finished their five hours and thirty five minute spacewalk just before 2:30 p.m. EDT.
The installation of an ISS Roll-Out Array, or IROSA, to increase power generation for the 1B power channel on the station’s starboard truss backbone, was their primary goal, according to NASA.
Solar panels connected in groups, or arrays, absorb sunlight and provide electricity for the space station. In 2017, the ISS utilised a robotic arm to unfold its first IROSA.
Military leaker alleges the US has a covert programme to retrieve UFOs: An “alien arms race”
IROSA can be expanded and contracted like a tape measure, claims NASA.
IROSAs utilise energy more effectively and are often lighter than the ISS Solar array wings. IROSAs have been installed by NASA over a number of spacewalks since its introduction. The new arrays supplement the current power supply and bring electricity back to the levels it was at before the original arrays were put in place.
A little more than half of the original array is shaded by the 60 feet by 20 feet array that was put in place on Thursday. A 30% boost in power production over the station’s current arrays is made possible by the new IROSAs, each of which generates more than 20 kilowatts of electricity.
According to NASA, the most recent installation represented the 265th spacewalk in support of space station assembly, improvements, and maintenance.
Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupts for the second time this year
