Visiting shuttle Discovery astronauts unfurled the new solar panel wings they installed onto the International Space Station, allowing it to generate full power after a decade of construction.
Working inside the station's Destiny laboratory, the astronauts extended two sets of panels that had been folded up like accordions inside flat metal boxes. The 13,950-kg girder containing the boxes was installed during the Discovery crew's first spacewalk on Thursday.
"It was absolutely beautiful," station commander Mike Fincke said in an interview with Reuters just after the solar wings were extended.
"It slowly unfurled. The box itself is just a few feet thick but it telescopes out to be 30, 40, 50 feet out. It's just really amazing," he said.
NASA had a host of backup plans in the event the crew encountered problems unfurling the wings, but the only hitch Friday was a slightly wrinkled section in the second wing that settled into position after a few minutes warming in the sun.
When the panels were fully outstretched, Fincke said there wasn't a collective sigh of relief among the astronauts "as much as a shout of triumph." Previous solar panel deployments have been hindered by stuck panels, broken guide wires and other glitches that required unplanned spacewalks to fix.
"This is a very proud moment for us," said NASA's deputy shuttle program manager, Leroy Cain.
Attaching the station's fourth and final set of U.S.-built wings was the primary goal of Discovery's flight, the 125th in the shuttle program's history, and restored symmetry to the orbital outpost, with four wings on each side of the craft.
READY FOR EXPANDED CREW
With the extra power, the 16 nations that are partners in the space station project will be able to double the amount of science carried out aboard the station.
"We're getting pretty close to turning the keys over to the research community," said Dan Hartman, head of NASA's space station management team. "They've been limited up until now."
Two more spacewalks are scheduled on Saturday and Monday to help prepare the station for an expanded, six-person crew before the shuttle departs on Wednesday. Currently, three people live on the outpost full time.
NASA decided to stick to its original schedule rather than have the shuttle leave the outpost a day early to improve the odds of a landing in Florida. NASA would like to avoid the extra time and expense of transporting the shuttle from its backup landing site in California to Florida, where it will be prepared for its next mission.
The US space agency wants to fly up to 10 more shuttle missions before the fleet is retired in 2010.
Riding back with the shuttle crew will be former space station flight engineer Sandy Magnus. She was replaced by Koichi Wakata, the first Japanese astronaut assigned to a space station crew.
In addition to performing experiments in material science, physics and medicine, Wakata will participate in several arts and cultural activities coordinated by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, such as wearing traditional Asian clothing to study the motion of the body and clothing in zero gravity.
JAXA also developed 28 Japanese foods to contribute to the station's pantry. "We'll be able to share the Japanese cuisine as part of the culture. It's not an experiment, but I'm very much looking forward to it," said Wakata, a veteran of two previous shuttle flights.
Those foods include okonomiyaki pancakes, tofu with hoisin sauce, hot and sour soup and odon noodles.