Repair to Space Station’s Solar Wing Flawless

Using just a hook and their gloved hands, two spacewalking astronauts tightened an overly slack solar wing on the international space station Thursday with surprising ease.

“All finished!” Carlos Noriega exclaimed once both tension cables were back on their pulleys and reels within a matter of minutes.

It was a critical job: Because of the two slack cables, the bank of electricity-producing solar cells on the right wing could have torn or the support rods could have bent or broken.

The $600-million set of solar wings, urgently needed at the previously power-poor space station Alpha, was installed Sunday by space shuttle Endeavour’s two spacewalkers. The right wing was extended in one fast release, causing its tension cables to pop off their pulleys and reels. The left wing was unfolded much more slowly and was properly taut.

Noriega and his partner, Joe Tanner, got the first loose cable back in place in about five minutes. The second cable took a little longer to fix.

They kept their hands off the braided wire cables so their gloves would not tear. Instead, they used a tool resembling a large crochet hook to guide the cables into place.

The solar wings, stretching 240 feet from tip to tip and 38 feet wide, are the largest, most powerful ever built for a spacecraft. They can generate 65 kilowatts of electricity at peak power.